Associated Press

Jeff Gordon climbs into his car before practice for the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Jeff Gordon admits he was one of the drivers who went to NASCAR last week at Talladega complaining about the bump-drafting but says that rule didn't impact the race.

A NASCAR official stated earlier this week in a blog on NASCAR.com that "several well-respected veteran drivers came to [the NASCAR] hauler and said 'we need to address the bump-drafting in the corners.' "

Said Gordon: "Bump-drafting through the corners is ridiculous. I don't think that had anything to do with the race that you saw last week. If anything, I think it's what allowed 30-plus cars on the lead lap with 30 [laps] to go. I think the reason why guys got to the end of the race more so than we've seen in the past is because we weren't pushing one another through the corners. I thought that was a big positive.''

Denny Hamlin was not pleased with NASCAR's warning last weekend two hours before the race and his opinion remained unchanged a week later.

"I think the fans would be disappointed if we decided to go back to Talladega and then have, once again, a no-bumping rule,'' Hamlin said. "We're drivers. We're professionals and I feel like we do a good job.''

Fastest

Jeff Gordon won his first pole of the season and extended his streak of at least one pole a season to 17 consecutive seasons. Gordon will start first after going 191.117 mph Friday at Texas Motor Speedway.

Kasey Kahne starts second after a lap of 190.975 mph. Kurt Busch (190.941), Tony Stewart (190.624) and Kyle Busch (190.523) completed the top five. Points-leader Jimmie Johnson qualified 12th with a lap of 189.860 mph.

New guy

Dave Rogers made his debut as Kyle Busch's crew chief and helped Busch qualify fifth for Sunday's race. Rogers moved up from Joe Gibbs Racing's Nationwide program. This is his first experience working with the Cup car since its change.

"I've been taking a crash course,'' Rogers said about the car. "I spent a lot of time with my setup guys and my car chief just trying to figure out about these cars, what the rules are, how we set them up.

"This week and the next [two] weeks are all about finding a direction. What direction do we need to work on in the offseason? So, whether we win, lose or draw as long as we have something to work on over the winter I think it will be a success.''

Pit stops

TUMS will be the primary sponsor for David Reutimann for five Cup races next year and in 2011, Michael Waltrip Racing announced. ... Little Debbie will return as a primary sponsor to Marcos Ambrose's team next season. ... Richard Childress Racing signed John Wes Townley and sponsor Zaxby's for the Nationwide Series next year.