RICHMOND, Va. — Jeff Gordon's rolled to his third consecutive NASCAR Nextel Cup pole position Friday, and former series champion Dale Jarrett was among those headed home as Toyota teams again struggled to compete.

Gordon, a four-time series champion, will start on the pole for the fourth consecutive week — he started first as the series points leader when qualifying was rained out a Texas — and for the fifth time in six races. He's also won two races in a row, and has opened a 203-point lead over second-place Jeff Burton after nine races.

"I'm kind of blown away right now with the roll that we're on," Gordon said.

Jarrett was blown away, too, by almost everyone. His Toyota finished 47th among the 50 cars attempting to make the field, with a fast lap at just 123.226 mph.

The 1999 champion, who used up his last past champion's provisional last week at Talladega, missed a race for the first time since 1994 .

"It's tough, no doubt about it," the 50-year-old driver said while walking to his hauler. "You've got to be on top of your game to race out here at this day and time."