If you were hoping to glean a hint about the likely outcome of the Jeff Gordon vs. Jimmie Johnson battle in this weekend's Nextel Cup race at Phoenix International Raceway, I'm afraid the practice and qualifying results don't offer much insight - except to say that both drivers look awfully good - and awfully well-matched - so far.

In the three practice sessions - one on Friday and two on Saturday - Gordon (+340) ran 14th, 8th, and 5th, while Johnson (+450) ran 5th, 16th, and 7th. Gordon qualified 3rd; Johnson, 6th.

It's interesting to note that nascar oddsmakers Saturday are giving the nod to Gordon, perhaps on the strength of his win at PIR in April.

But things can't get much closer than they are now for the two Hendrick teammates - separated by just 30 points in the title hunt - who have the two highest average finishes among active drivers at PIR: 7.2 for Johnson and 8.2 for Gordon. Jeff won here in April and finished 4th last fall; Jimmie finished 4th in the spring and 2nd last fall.

Apart from the Jeff & Jimmie Show, there were a number of surprises in Friday's qualifying session.

Roush-Fenway Racing driver Carl Edwards (+820) scored the pole for Sunday's Checker Auto Parts 500 with a 27.114 lap. You may be surprised to learn that it was Edwards' first pole since Homestead in 2005. Edwards ran 2nd in Friday's practice session and 6th in Saturday's early practice, but fell to 18th during Happy Hour.

On the outside pole is DEI's Martin Truex Jr. with a 27.117, just .003 off Edwards' time. Truex (+860) was impressive in both Saturday practices, running 2nd in the early practice and pacing Happy Hour with a 27.88 lap.

Starting in the second row is Gordon in 3rd and J.J. Yeley in 4th. Yeley, the Phoenix native who will be leaving Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of the season, has his highest starting position since scoring the pole at Michigan back in June. He ran 19th, 18th, and 11th in the three practice sessions.

Lining up next to Jimmie Johnson on the inside of row three is Johnny Sauter, who qualified 5th. This is just Sauter's second top-5 start in 2007 - his first was at Loudon in July where he qualified 4th.

Rounding out the top 10 in the starting lineup are Greg Biffle (+2700) in 7th, Tony Raines in 8th, Kurt Busch (+850) in 9th, and Kasey Kahne (+1550) in 10th. This is Tony Raines' best starting spot of the year in the No. 96 Chevy as well, though he will not be in this ride next year.

Overall, five Chase drivers qualified in the top 10, while Kevin Harvick (+1700) and Kyle Busch (+920) timed furthest back among Chasers and will start 34th and 38th, respectively. Though Busch did not qualify well, bettors are giving him the benefit of the doubt after winning both the Busch and Truck races at PIR this weekend.

The fastest rookie in qualifying was Juan Pablo Montoya (+6000) who starts 14th on Sunday.

Montoya will be joined for the first time by a trio of fellow open-wheel racers - Patrick Carpentier, Sam Hornish, Jr. and Jacques Villeneuve - who all qualified for Sunday's Cup race. This is Hornish's first Cup start after failing to qualify in six previous attempts. Carpentier and Villeneuve are starting their second Cup race each.

It's the first time ever that three Indy 500 winners - Hornish, Villeneuve, and Montoya - will all be starting a Nextel Cup race.

David Ragan and David Gilliland made the field on owner's points, while Michael Waltrip, A.J. Allmendinger, Ward Burton, John Andretti, Dale Jarrett, and David Reutimann failed to qualify.

Jamie McMurray (+3100) had the fastest lap in Friday's practice, but qualified 23rd. Kurt Busch led second practice, but ran 20th in Happy Hour.

The only drivers who ran in the top 10 in both Saturday practice sessions were Truex Jr, Ryan Newman (+1900) , Jeff Gordon, and Casey Mears (+2300). Newman starts 13th and Mears, 11th.

There are three two-time Phoenix winners in tomorrow's race: Jeff Burton (+1900), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (+2100) , and Kevin Harvick. Burton starts 12th and Dale Jr., 35th, though Junior picked it up to 19th in Happy Hour.

Here's an interesting factoid about the Cup race at PIR: Why is a 312-lap race on a one-mile track called the "Checker Auto Parts 500" rather than the "Checker Auto Parts 312"? 500 is the number of kilometers - not laps or miles - in this race.