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Tag: Busch Light Pole Award

  • Hamlin claims second Cup pole position of 2024 at Nashville

    Hamlin claims second Cup pole position of 2024 at Nashville

    Denny Hamlin snatched the Busch Light Pole Award for the fourth annual running of the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday, June 29.

    The three-time Daytona 500 champion from Chesterfield, Virginia, was one of 10 competitors from a total of 38 entered to compete in the event to transfer into the final round of qualifying for the pole position, with Hamlin transferring from Qualifying Group B. Once in the final round, he clocked in a fast-qualifying lap at 160.354 mph in 29.859 seconds, which was enough to dislodge rookie Josh Berry from the top starting spot as he will lead the field to the green flag for the 19th event on the 2024 schedule this upcoming Sunday.

    With his accomplishment, Hamlin, who achieved the pole position by being the 10th and final competitor to run on the track, recorded his 42nd NASCAR Cup Series career pole, his second of the season, his first since Phoenix Raceway in March and his first at Nashville Superspeedway. The pole position also left Hamlin pleased as he attempts to rally from finishing no higher than 24th during his last three starts of this season.

    “[I’m] Really happy with this whole FedEx Camry team,” Hamlin said. “They brought a great car today. Glad we were able to capitalize on it. The driver’s not been very good during qualifying session so far this year, but to get a good one today, that [number one] pit stall will help.”

    Joining Hamlin on the front row for Sunday’s main event will be rookie Josh Berry, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 159.749 mph in 29.972 seconds as he will start in second place in a Cup event for the second time in 2024. Berry is coming off a strong third-place result during last weekend’s Cup event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. While Berry is still pursuing a ride for the 2025 season, he is also continuing his pursuit to make the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs as he is currently 73 points below the top-16 cutline with eight regular-season events remaining.

    Christopher Bell, Hamlin’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing who won at New Hampshire, will line up in third place with his best qualifying lap occurring at 159.849 mph in 29.954 seconds. Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick will start in the top five.

    Brad Keselowski, William Byron, Ty Gibbs, Chris Buescher and Austin Cindric, all of whom transferred into the final qualifying round, will start sixth to 10th, respectively, while Austin Dillon and Alex Bowman, the first two competitors to not transfer into the final round, will line up 11th and 12th, respectively.

    Notably, Corey Heim, who is piloting a third 23XI Racing entry co-owned by Hamlin and Michael Jordan, will start in 29th place as he will make his third Cup career start. In addition, Justin Haley, who clocked in the 33rd-fastest time at 156.588 mph in 30.577 seconds, will start at the rear of the field and serve a pass-through penalty through pit road during the event’s opening lap due to an unapproved adjustment that was made to his Rick Ware Racing entry during the pre-qualifying inspection process. The penalty also resulted in his car chief JR Norris being ejected for the remainder of the weekend.

    Qualifying position, best speed, best time:

    1. Denny Hamlin, 160.354 mph, 29.859 seconds
    2. Josh Berry, 159.749 mph, 29.972 seconds
    3. Christopher Bell, 159.845 mph, 29.954 seconds
    4. Kyle Larson, 159.701 mph, 29.981 seconds
    5. Brad Keselowski, 159.536 mph, 30.012 seconds
    6. Tyler Reddick, 159.600 mph, 30 seconds
    7. William Byron, 159.531 mph, 30.013 seconds
    8. Ty Gibbs, 159.451 mph, 30.028 seconds
    9. Chris Buescher, 159.064 mph, 30.101 seconds
    10. Austin Cindric, 158.890 mph, 30.134 seconds
    11. Austin Dillon, 158.422 mph, 30.223 seconds
    12. Alex Bowman, 158.103 mph, 30.284 seconds
    13. Chase Elliott, 158.407 mph, 30.226 seconds
    14. Michael McDowell, 158.056 mph, 30.293 seconds
    15. Carson Hocevar, 158.187 mph, 30.268 seconds
    16. Noah Gragson, 157.895 mph, 30.324 seconds
    17. Martin Truex Jr., 158.051 mph, 30.294 seconds
    18. Ryan Blaney, 157.843 mph, 30.334 seconds
    19. Chase Briscoe, 157.947 mph, 30.314 seconds
    20. Ross Chastain157. 822 mph, 30.338 seconds
    21. Corey LaJoie, 157.759 mph, 30.350 seconds
    22. Ryan Preece, 157.309 mph, 30.437 seconds
    23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 157.645 mph, 30.372 seconds
    24. Bubba Wallace, 157.221 mph, 30.454 seconds
    25. Harrison Burton, 157.562 mph, 30.388 seconds
    26. Joey Logano, 157.123 mph, 30.473 seconds
    27. Kyle Busch, 157.298 mph, 30.439 seconds
    28. AJ Allmendinger, 157.112 mph, 30.475 seconds
    29. Corey Heim, 157.226 mph, 30.453 seconds
    30. Riley Herbst, 156.185 mph, 30.656 seconds
    31. Daniel Suarez, 156.691 mph, 30.557 seconds
    32. Todd Gilliland, 155.849 mph, 30.722 seconds
    33. Justin Haley, 156.588 mph, 30.577 seconds
    34. Erik Jones, 155.768 mph, 30.738 seconds
    35. John Hunter Nemechek, 156.532 mph, 30.588 seconds
    36. Zane Smith, 155.561 mph, 30.779 seconds
    37. Daniel Hemric, 156.501 mph, 30.594 seconds
    38. Chad Finchum, 146.395 mph, 32.706 seconds

    The 2024 Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway is set to occur on Sunday, June 30, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Kyle Larson collects NASCAR Cup Series pole at Iowa Speedway

    Kyle Larson collects NASCAR Cup Series pole at Iowa Speedway

    Kyle Larson scored the Busch Light Pole Award Saturday at Iowa Speedway. The Hendrick Motorsports driver will lead the field to green in the NASCAR Cup Series debut at the 0.875-mile track.

    It is Larson’s fourth pole this season and his 20th career pole. He outpaced the field with a 136.458 mph qualifying lap in 23.084 seconds in his No. 5 Chevrolet.

    “Obviously, happy to get the pole,” Larson said. “It helped to go out last, probably. I’m sure the track was continuing to get a little bit better. We got to watch SMT (data) of everybody’s runs, so that helps. But it also makes you a little bit more nervous when you see everybody out there struggling. Thankfully, my lap was mostly comfortable, a little bit loose like everybody was. But we were able to piece together two pretty consistent laps and be fast enough on that second lap to get it done.”

    Ryan Blaney will start beside Larson on the front row in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford after a 136.311 mph lap.

    “It would have been nice [to win the pole], obviously,” Blaney commented. “But that’s a big improvement from yesterday. We did a lot of work overnight and this morning to figure out how to be better than where we were yesterday at the end of practice. We’re really proud of that effort.”

    Josh Berry, William Byron and Brad Keselowski completed the top five fastest drivers in the qualifying session followed by Chase Briscoe, Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell to round out the top 10. Bell, however, will start from the rear of the field after crashing during practice which necessitated going to a backup car for the race.  

    Austin Cindric will also go to a backup car after a tire failure during practice.

    Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol will be broadcast on the USA network at 7 p.m. ET with radio coverage provided by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Complete Starting Lineup:

    1.  Kyle Larson
    2. Ryan Blaney
    3. Josh Berry
    4. William Byron
    5. Brad Keselowski
    6. Chase Briscoe
    7. Kyle Busch
    8. Tyler Reddick
    9. Chase Elliott
    10. Christopher Bell (Will start at the rear of the field)
    11. Joey Logano
    12. Denny Hamlin
    13. Daniel Suarez
    14. Todd Gilliland
    15. Chris Buescher
    16. Bubba Wallace
    17. Ross Chastain
    18. AJ Allmendinger
    19. Justin Haley
    20. Carson Hocevar
    21. Austin Cindric (Will start at the rear of the field)
    22. Michael McDowell
    23. Noah Gragson
    24. Corey LaJoie
    25. Harrison Burton
    26. Zane Smith
    27. Ty Gibbs
    28. Kaz Grala
    29. Ryan Preece
    30. Daniel Hemric
    31. Martin Truex Jr.
    32. Erik Jones
    33. Alex Bowman
    34. John H Nemechek
    35. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    36. Austin Dillon
  • Tyler Reddick collects Cup Series Busch Light Pole at Darlington

    Tyler Reddick collects Cup Series Busch Light Pole at Darlington

    Tyler Reddick claimed the NASCAR Cup Series Busch Light Pole Award for Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway Saturday morning after a qualifying lap of 170.124 mph in the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota.

    It was his seventh Cup Series career pole, his first pole at Darlington and his first this season. After qualifying he spoke about the complexities of racing at the 1.366-mile track and how it complements his racing style.

    “I think I have a lot of fun racing here. I have a lot of fun racing other competitors, but I also have a lot of fun racing the track as well,” Reddick said. “My first ever laps in the Next Gen – the NASCAR Next Gen version three car was here – we had a test, and it was a handful to drive. We had a lot of fun in it. We had other rookie tests here as well.

    “I learned a lot about a Xfinity car and the new Cup car at a place like this and that is challenging to do. I’ve had some unique experiences that have probably helped me get better here, but I think the biggest thing is just how the tires wear and the amount you have to move around. The amount of risk that you have to take every single lap and manage that for a whole race is kind of benefitted me and how I drive a race car.”

    RFK’s Brad Keselowski will start beside him on the front row after posting a 170.108 mph lap. His RFK teammate, Chris Buescher (169.543 mph) will start third as Ty Gibbs (169.491 mph) and William Byron (169.397 mph) rounded out the top five in qualifying.

    Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson will start sixth followed by Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain and Martin Truex Jr. to complete the top-10.

    You can tune into the NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400 Sunday, May 12, at 3 p.m. ET on FS1 with radio coverage provided by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

  • Christopher Bell is back on top after earning Busch Light Pole Award at Kansas

    Christopher Bell is back on top after earning Busch Light Pole Award at Kansas

    After a disappointing stretch of mediocre finishes, Christopher Bell is on top again after claiming the NASCAR Cup Series Busch Light Pole Award at Kansas Speedway. It’s his 11th Cup Series career pole and his first in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota this season.

    While Bell was pleased with his qualifying effort, he’s focused on what comes next.

    “It’s nice to have success,” he said, “but what happens on Saturday has no dictation on what happens Sunday. We’ve got a great starting spot and we’re in prime position to win some stage points. But 267 laps is a long time and I fully believe that we can have a great race tomorrow and definitely believe I can be talking to all of you guys in 24 hours after the race too.

    “It just all has to come together and honestly at this point, I’m not looking for a race win, guys. I’m literally looking to see the checkered flag. And I know my car has great capabilities. If I just see the checkered flag with a clean car, we’re going to have a solid day and that’s what we’re after tomorrow.”

    Ross Chastain qualified second-fastest in the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet with a qualifying lap of 182.704 mph and will start beside Bell on the front row for Sunday’s AdventHealth 400.

    Stewart-Hass Racing’s Noah Gragson (182.451 mph) qualified third in the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, Kyle Larson was fourth fastest in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet at 182.383 mph, as Kyle Busch (182.070 mph) rounded out the top-five in the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

    Ty Gibbs, Austin Cindric, Michael McDowell, Chase Elliott and Chase Briscoe completed the top-10 fastest drivers in the qualifying session.

    The NASCAR Cup Series AdventHealth 400 is scheduled for Sunday, May 5, at 3 p.m. ET and will be televised on FS1 with radio coverage provided by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

  • Kyle Larson collects third consecutive Cup Series pole at Texas

    Kyle Larson collects third consecutive Cup Series pole at Texas

    Kyle Larson topped qualifying Saturday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to earn the Busch Light Pole Award for Sunday’s AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400.

    His lap of 190.369 mph in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet marked his 19th Cup Series career pole, his third consecutive pole this season and the 250th for the Hendrick organization.

    “Yeah, it was a pretty intense qualifying session,” Larson said. “I felt like the track was really slick in practice, and then having to kind of talk to yourself before you make your lap, knowing that you have to commit even more than you did in practice to go fast is difficult.

    “And then just the lap itself – the first round and second round both, there were moments where you have grip, and then moments where you’re like man, I’m going to crash. It’s pretty intense from behind the wheel, but always great when you can accomplish a pole and feel like you beat your confidence a little bit.”

    Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs will start on the front row beside Larson after a qualifying lap of 190.134 mph lap in his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. His teammate, Christopher Bell, will start third as 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe, round out the top five.

    William Byron, the defending race winner, will start sixth, followed by Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric as JGR’s Martin Truex Jr. and 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace, round out the top 10.

    Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson both had issues during the practice session that preceded qualifying. Johnson’s No. 84 Legacy Motor Club entry made contact with the wall in Turn 2. The team plans to make repairs rather than go to a backup car for Sunday’s race. Kyle Busch spun exiting the same turn in his No. 8 Richard Childress Chevrolet. Neither driver made a qualifying run and will have to start near the back of the field. Kyle Busch will start in 34th and Johnson will start in 37th.

    The AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 will be broadcast Sunday at 3:30 p.m. on FS1 with radio coverage provided by PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Starting Lineup:

  • Kyle Larson on the pole at Martinsville as Hendrick Motorsports celebrates 40th anniversary

    Kyle Larson on the pole at Martinsville as Hendrick Motorsports celebrates 40th anniversary

    Kyle Larson claimed the Busch Light Pole Award at Martinsville Speedway Saturday evening on a nostalgic weekend honoring Hendrick Motorsports’ 40th anniversary in NASCAR.

    He drove his No. 5 HMS Chevrolet, adorned in a special paint scheme to honor the occasion, to the top of the speed charts with a 96.034 mph lap during qualifying.

    Larson spoke about the importance of track position.

    “Yeah, we’ve all seen passing on short tracks have been really difficult in the Next Gen cars. So, I think qualifying has been more important than it has ever been here these last few years,” he said. “So yeah, I mean getting track position on Saturday, qualifying well, usually pays dividends as long as your team can execute on Sunday. It’s great to get another pole on a short-track, back-to-back weekends. I felt like it really helped our race out last week, and as long as we execute tomorrow, it should help our race out, as well.”

    It was Larson’s second consecutive pole after starting first at Richmond Raceway and his 18th Cup Series career pole.

    Bubba Wallace will start beside Larson on the front row for his fifth top-10 start this year after posting a qualifying lap of 96.029 mph in the 23XI Racing No. 23 Toyota.

    “Of all people, it’d be Larson by a thousandth,” Wallace joked. “Proud of our team though, so it’s good.”

    Chase Elliott (95.869 mph) will start third followed by Martin Truex Jr. (95.864 mph) and Chase Briscoe (95.830 mph) to round out the top five. Rounding out the top-10 were Joey Logano (95.811 mph), Josh Berry (95.806 mph), Denny Hamlin (95.738 mph), Ryan Blaney (95.559 mph) and Alex Bowman (95.487 mph).

    You can tune into the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FS1 with radio coverage provided by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Complete Starting Lineup:

    1. Kyle Larson
    2. Bubba Wallace
    3. Chase Elliott
    4. Martin Truex Jr.
    5. Chase Briscoe
    6. Joey Logano
    7. Josh Berry
    8. Denny Hamlin
    9. Ryan Blaney
    10. Alex Bowman
    11. Kyle Busch
    12. Ross Chastain
    13. Brad Keselowski
    14. Austin Cindric
    15. Ty Gibbs
    16. Todd Gilliland
    17. Erik Jones
    18. William Byron
    19. Tyler Reddick
    20. Christopher Bell
    21. Daniel Suarez
    22. Ryan Preece
    23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    24. Zane Smith
    25. Carson Hocevar
    26. Noah Gragson
    27. Justin Haley
    28. Austin Dillon
    29. John Hunter Nemechek
    30. Chris Buescher
    31. Kaz Grala
    32. Corey LaJoie
    33. Josh Williams
    34. Harrison Burton
    35. Michael McDowell
    36. Daniel Hemric
    37. David Starr
  • Kyle Larson collects pole, Elliott second, for Hendrick front row at Richmond

    Kyle Larson collects pole, Elliott second, for Hendrick front row at Richmond

    Kyle Larson prevailed over teammate Chase Elliott to clinch the Busch Light Pole Award at Richmond Raceway. It’s his first Cup Series pole of the season and his 17th career pole in 338 career starts.

    “Definitely helps for sure,” Larson said after qualifying. “I think the No. 1 pit stall here means a lot, yeah, happy to do that.

    “Chase got real close there,” he continued, “so I was a bit nervous. But yeah, it’s an awesome day for Hendrick Motorsports.

    He concluded by saying, “Good to get another pole. We’ll see if it translates into tomorrow’s race.”

    Chevrolet captured the top four spots with Ross Chastain (120.059 mph) third-fastest, followed by Alex Bowman (119.861 mph). Bubba Wallace (119.819 mph) completed the top five in the No. 23 Toyota.

    Todd Gilliland (119.760 mph), starting sixth, was the highest-qualifying Ford.

    “It was a solid day,” Gilliland said, “but we still need to keep working on a bunch of stuff, especially kind of longer runs because everyone gets to a point where they’re not comfortable. We made good adjustments,” he said, “improved our starting spot, into the second round, I thought all of that stuff – definitely multiple positives to take from today.”

    Martin Truex Jr. (119.585 mph), Ty Gibbs (119.517 mph), Austin Cindric (119.111 mph) and Joey Logano (119.069 mph) rounded out the top 10.

    You can tune into the Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 at 7 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX with radio coverage provided by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Starting Lineup:

  • William Byron captures Cup Series Pole at Circuit of the Americas

    William Byron captures Cup Series Pole at Circuit of the Americas

    William Byron won the Busch Light Pole at Circuit of the Americas and will lead the field to green Sunday afternoon in the Cup Series EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. It’s his first pole this season, his 13th career pole and his second-straight pole at the 3.426-mile track.

    “I feel really happy with the way the week’s gone and I feel very fresh going into this race,” Byron said. “We’ve just got to go through the process of the race. Just manage the runs, have enough long-run speed. I feel we got a good balance with our car. We’ve been struggling to have smooth races, so this is a good start.”

    The Hendrick Motorsports driver was fastest overall in his No. 24 Chevrolet during practice Saturday and he carried that momentum over to earn the top spot in the qualifying session with a lap of 94.696 mph.

    Ty Gibbs will join him on the front row in the No. 54 Toyota as 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick will start third in the No. 45 Toyota. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell (No. 20 Toyota) and Spire Motorsports’ Corey LaJoie (No. 7 Chevrolet) claimed the remaining top five starting spots. It will be LaJoie’s best Cup Series career starting position.

    Ross Chastain, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top 10.

    The highest qualifying Ford was the No. 2 Team Penske Ford driven by Austin Cindric who will start 11th. Rookie Shane van Gisbergen will start 12th in the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet.
    You can tune into the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX with radio coverage provided by PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Notes:

    Kyle Larson was late to the qualifying session as the Hendrick Motorsports team had to change a rotor. Larson will start Sunday’s race in 15th.

    Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi, who will be making his second NASCAR start, qualified 25th in the No. 50 23XI Racing Toyota.

    1.   William Byron
    2.   Ty Gibbs
    3.   Tyler Reddick
    4.   Christopher Bell
    5.   Corey LaJoie
    6.   Ross Chastain
    7.   Martin Truex Jr.
    8.   Denny Hamlin
    9.   Chase Elliott
    10. Bubba Wallace
    11. Austin Cindric
    12. Shane Van Gisbergen
    13. Justin Haley
    14. A.J. Allmendinger
    15. Kyle Larson
    16. Kyle Busch
    17. Alex Bowman
    18. Carson Hocevar (R)
    19. Daniel Suarez
    20. Chris Buescher
    21. Austin Dillon
    22. John Hunter Nemechek
    23. Kaz Grala (R)
    24. Ryan Preece
    25. Kamui Kobayashi
    26. Todd Gilliland
    27. Michael McDowell
    28. Ryan Blaney
    29. Harrison Burton
    30. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    31. Josh Berry (R)
    32. Chase Briscoe
    33. Daniel Hemric
    34. Zane Smith (R)
    35. Joey Logano
    36. Brad Keselowski
    37. Timmy Hill
    38. Erik Jones
    39. Noah Gragson
  • Ryan Blaney scores Busch Light Pole at Bristol

    Ryan Blaney scores Busch Light Pole at Bristol

    Ryan Blaney captured the Busch Light Pole Award at Bristol Motor Speedway Saturday evening with a lap time of 15.356 seconds at 124.954 mph in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford. It is his first pole at Bristol and the 10th of his career.

    Qualifying was challenging as the resin on the inside lane of the concrete track seemed to deteriorate quickly, providing significantly less grip from start to finish during the session.

    “Proud of this whole Menards group”, Blaney said. “Our Ford Mustang was fast all day – really good in Round 1 [of qualifying] and made some adjustments for the second round. The track really caught everybody by surprise, honestly. The time fall-off and grip loss behind the wheel was incredible, it was huge. So it was, like, who could not mess up a lap and still put a decent time down?

    “That was fun, it was fun working through it. I wish I could do it over again and try to make our car even better because I think there was still some more out there. Proud of everybody at Menards, Ford, Advance Auto Parts, DEX Imaging, Wabash, Wurth and everybody that makes it possible. It’s cool to get our first pole of the year and excited to get going tomorrow.”

    “The track kind of caught everybody by surprise,” Blaney said. “The time fall-off and the grip loss behind the wheel was incredible. It was like, ‘Who can not mess up a lap and still put a decent time down?’ Great to get our first pole of the year, and ready to go tomorrow.”

    Stewart-Haas Racing’s Josh Berry was second fastest in the No. 4 Ford (124.792 mph) and will start beside Blaney on the front row, claiming his best Cup Series career start.

    “It means a lot,” Berry said after qualifying. “Obviously being at Bristol that’s really cool, but anywhere at this point it would mean a lot. These guys have been working really hard and they kept me jacked up and we’ve been putting in the work trying to get better. We just need a mistake-free day tomorrow. If we do that, we’ll be in contention.”

    Denny Hamlin was third quickest (124.178 mph) in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, followed by Team Penske’s Joey Logano (123.746 mph) in the No. 22 Ford and Chase Elliott (122.882 mph) in the No. 8 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

    Chase Briscoe, Michael McDowell, William Byron, Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson rounded out the top 10 in the qualifying session.

    The green flag for the Food City 500 is set for 3:47 p.m. ET Sunday and will be televised on FOX with radio coverage provided by PRN and SiriusXM Radio.

    Starting Lineup for the Food City 500

    1. 1. Ryan Blaney
    2. 2. Josh Berry (R)
    3. 3. Denny Hamlin
    4. 4. Joey Logano
    5. 5. Chase Elliott
    6. 6. Chase Briscoe
    7. 7. Michael McDowell
    8. 8. William Byron
    9. 9. Bubba Wallace
    10. 10. Kyle Larson
    11. 11. Martin Truex Jr.
    12. 12. Christopher Bell
    13. 13. Harrison Burton
    14. 14. Kyle Busch
    15. 15. Erik Jones
    16. 16. Zane Smith (R)
    17. 17. Brad Keselowski
    18. 18. Corey LaJoie
    19. 19. Ty Gibbs
    20. 20. Daniel Hemric
    21. 21. Austin Cindric
    22. 22. Noah Gragson
    23. 23. Tyler Reddick
    24. 24. Todd Gilliland
    25. 25. Ryan Preece
    26. 26. John Hunter Nemechek
    27. 27. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    28. 28. Daniel Suarez
    29. 29. Alex Bowman
    30. 30. A.J. Allmendinger
    31. 31. Austin Dillon
    32. 32. Justin Haley
    33. 33. Kaz Grala (R)
    34. 34. Chris Buescher
    35. 35. Carson Hocevar (R)
    36. 36. Ross Chastain
  • Michael McDowell captures first career Busch Light pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway

    Michael McDowell captures first career Busch Light pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway

    Michael McDowell topped the speed charts during NASCAR Cup Series qualifying on Saturday with a lap time of 30.999 seconds (178.844 mph) to claim his first career pole.

    He expressed confidence and motivation moving forward.

    “It’s just motivating to make the most of the opportunity we have in front of us because right now, today,” McDowell said. “We have fast cars and that’s not a guarantee six months from now and that’s not a guarantee 12 months from now. I know that because I lived the other side for a long time, so it’s making the most of the opportunity that we have right in front of us right now because right now we’re in the game and have something for them.”

    Joey Logano qualified second-fastest (178.242 mph) followed by Kyle Busch (178.235 mph) Todd Gilliland (178.08 mph) and Kyle Larson (177.829 mph).  Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe and Austin Dillon completed the top 10 in qualifying for Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400.

    Notably, seven Fords and three Chevrolets comprised the top 10 in the qualifying session.

    The Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway will be broadcast Sunday, Feb. 25 at 3 p.m. ET on FOX with radio coverage provided by PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Starting Lineup:

    Starting pos.Driver
    1.Michael McDowell
    2.Joey Logano
    3.Kyle Busch
    4.Todd Gilliland
    5.Kyle Larson
    6.Ryan Blaney
    7.Chris Buescher
    8.Austin Cindric
    9.Chase Briscoe
    10.Austin Dillon
    11.William Byron
    12.Martin Truex Jr.
    13.Denny Hamlin
    14.Josh Berry
    15.Noah Gragson
    16.Harrison Burton
    17.Alex Bowman
    18.Bubba Wallace
    19.Tyler Reddick
    20.Ryan Preece
    21.Ross Chastain
    22.Christopher Bell
    23.Daniel Suarez
    24.Brad Keselowski
    25.Ty Gibbs
    26.Daniel Hemric
    27.Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    28.Chase Elliott
    29.Zane Smith
    30.Josh Wiliams
    31.Justin Haley
    32.Corey LaJoie
    33.Kaz Grala
    34.John Hunter Nemechek
    35.Carson Hocevar
    36.BJ McLeod
    37.Erik Jones