Jeff Gordon took the pole for tomorrow's running of the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Watking Glen International after posting a 68.126 second lap time to knock Australian Marcos Ambrose into 2nd.

Ambrose was top of the charts in the second and final round until three minutes remained on the clock when Gordon in the #24 car went to the point. They will start side-by-side for the race tomorrow on the front row.

Jimmie Johnson in the #48, Kevin Harvick in the #4 and Kurt Busch in the #41 car round out the top five for tomorrow's race.

There were two rounds in the qualifying session this afternoon at The Glen, the first being a 30 minute session with all 43 drivers on track and the second was a ten minute session with the top 12 drivers battling for the Coors Light Pole Award.

The first session began with Casey Mears in the #13 car leading a group of drivers onto the track when the round went green. Out of the first group Aj Allmendinger in the #47 car was the quickest.

One driver who was having a problem with his car was Joey Logano in the #22 as the splitter was loose and had broke a weald at the front, the team later reported, but he still managed to be 4th quickest early on.

With five minutes elapsed Allmendinger, Kurt Busch, Brian Vickers, Logano and Denny Hamlin made up the top five with Mears sitting on the bubble in 12th.

Six time Sprint Cup Series champion Johnson went to 2nd on the board after his first run, but Ambrose put in a 68.113 to go fastest when he came out on track with eight minutes gone.

Danica Patrick, who will be in a back-up car for tomorrow's race after a crash in final practice yesterday, went into 33rd after her first run and it looked like she was having trouble with the new car.

After ten minutes of the first round the top five had a slightly new look: Ambrose, Allmendinger, Newman, Johnson and Kurt Busch as Dale Earnhardt Jr NASCAR's most popular driver was on the bubble.

There was trouble around the bus-stop as Harvick was on a fast lap but Kyle Busch in the #18 in front of him was slowing to come to the pit and held Harvick up. They drove side-by-side to argue their cases for the rest of the lap.

With 12 minutes remaining Logano's team were adding tape to the front splitter to hold it in place, Logano was still inside the top 12 at this point during round one.

When Harvick finally got out on track there were just 9 minutes left on the clock but the Stewart Haas Racing driver put his #4 car into 2nd straight away and at the same time Aric Almirola in the #43 got a blend line violation and had to abandon his lap.

Matt Kenseth in the #20, who was outside the top 12 to advance, jumped into 6th on his second run out on track with just five minutes left.

The changes and movers came thick and fast in the final five minutes as drivers battled to make the top 12. 

Firstly Tony Stewart went 10th to knock eventual pole sitter Gordon into 13th and  Gordon then went into 4th on his next lap with just one minute left to knock Justin Allgaier in the #51 out.

Finally as the red flag was shown to end the session the final 12 to advance to round two were: Ambrose, Harvick, Allmendinger, Gordon, Earnhardt Jr, Newman, Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Johnson, Kenseth, Logano and Vickers.

There were some bit name drivers who missed out on round two including Stewart who fell to 13th, Sonoma winner this season Carl Edwards was 16th, Kyle Busch who had trouble with Harvick was 19th and Clint Bowyer was 24th.

The second and final round began with Ambrose putting in a 68.299 second lap time to go fastest early on as the Australian didn't want to be stuck in traffic later in the session.

At the half way point in the round only five of the 12 drivers had made a lap: Ambrose (68.299), Allmendinger, Harvick, Newman and Vickers (69.171).

With four minutes left on the clock Earnhardt Jr and Kenseth made their first laps to go 4th and 5th on the chart respectively.

Shortly after Gordon was on track and out in the time that saw him grab the pole for tomorrow's race, a time of 68.126 seconds.

After Gordon there were still drivers to make their laps with Johnson going 3rd with only two minutes left, Kurt Busch went into 4th inside the last minute and Keselowski go into 11th as the final driver to improve on their time.

Coverage for tomorrow's race begins at 12:00pm ET