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Tag: Pole Award

  • Ty Gibbs collects the Xfinity Series pole at Charlotte  

    Ty Gibbs collects the Xfinity Series pole at Charlotte  

    Ty Gibbs will lead the field to the green flag in Saturday’s Xfinity Series BetMGM 300  at Charlotte Motor Speedway after winning the pole Friday with a lap of 177.194 mph in his  No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

    “I’m very thankful to run two races and I really have a good time out here,” Gibbs said. “Doing another race this weekend is fun. I always love racing so I always look forward to doing stuff like this.”

    Kyle Busch (176.482 mph) will join Gibbs on the front row as Chandler Smith (176.246), Jesse Love (175.873) and Jeb Burton (175.496) rounded out the top five in the qualifying session.

    Cole Custer will start sixth (175.433), followed by Sheldon Creed (175.433), Austin Hill (175.365 mph), Justin Allgaier (175.160) and Brandon Jones (176.103) to complete the top-10.

    The BetMGM 300  will be broadcast on FOX Saturday afternoon with the green flag set for 1:19 p.m. ET with radio coverage provided by PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Starting Lineup:

  • Austin Hill tops Xfinity Series qualifying to win the pole at Talladega

    Austin Hill tops Xfinity Series qualifying to win the pole at Talladega

    Austin Hill captured the Pole Award Friday evening at Talladega Superspeedway in the No. 21 Richard Childress Chevrolet with a qualifying lap of 181.629 mph and will lead the field to green for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Ag-Pro 300. It was his third consecutive pole at the 2.66-mile track and his fifth career pole in the series.

    Hill, who has two wins this year at drafting tracks, Daytona International Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway, explained his strategy for these types of tracks.

    “I’ve been asked this question a lot and when I was first asked it, I didn’t feel like I did anything different than others,” he said. “First and foremost, you have to have a fast car and our Richard Childress Racing Camaros are always fast when we come to a superspeedway.

    “But as I have gone back and watched races to prepare, I noticed that I make a lot of the right decisions at the right time and take all the runs that I can get. Even if those runs don’t work out early in the race, I try to learn from those and not make the same mistake twice.

    “Some sort of luck is involved, but if you can position yourself in the top four or five, you have a higher percentage of getting the job done. I don’t like to be one of the guys that runs in the back and then when it’s go time, try to drive through the field. I prefer to control the race all day if I can. Take all the runs and be aggressive.”

    His RCR teammate, rookie Jesse Love, will start beside him on the front row after posting a 181.120 mph lap. Parker Kligerman qualified third with a lap of 180.693 mph. Custer (180.169 mph) and Sammy Smith (180.054) completed the top five qualifiers.

    Ryan Truex (179.942 mph), Chandler Smith (179.861 mph), Riley Herbst (179.774 mph), Josh Williams (179.568 mph) and Sheldon Creed (178.767 mph) rounded out the top 10.

    You can tune into Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Ag-Pro 300 with race coverage beginning at 4 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

  • Kyle Larson wins Xfinity Series pole at Circuit of the Americas

    Kyle Larson wins Xfinity Series pole at Circuit of the Americas

    Kyle Larson set a track record during qualifying at Circuit of the Americas and won the pole for Saturday’s Xfinity Series Focused Health 250 with a lap speed of 92.946 mph in the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

    “I think I’ve gotten the pole every time I’ve run the (No.) 17 car,” Larson said following qualifying. “It hasn’t translated to a win yet. I’m still trying to get a grasp of things. It’s going to be tough. SVG (Shane van Gisbergen), he’s still got a lot to learn about the car and he’s already second quick.”

    Rookie Shane van Gisbergen will start beside Larson on the front row after a qualifying lap of 92.65 mph. He will also compete in Sunday’s Cup Series EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix.

    Ty Gibbs (92.537 mph), Chandler Smith (92.211 mph) and AJ Allmendinger (92.188 mph) rounded out the top five. Sage Karam, Sheldon Creed, Cole Custer, Daniel Hemric and Sam Mayer completed the top 10 fastest drivers in the qualifying session.

    Notes:
    Daniel Hemric filled in for Josh Williams, awaiting his child’s birth.
    Preston Pardus and Kaz Grala did not qualify for Saturday’s race at COTA.

    The Xfinity Series Focused Health 250 will be broadcast on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET on FS1 with radio coverage provided by PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

  • Connor Zilisch claims pole at COTA in Truck Series debut

    Connor Zilisch claims pole at COTA in Truck Series debut

    Connor Zilisch won the Pole Award Friday afternoon at Circuit of the Americas in his NASCAR Truck Series debut. He topped the speed chart in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet with a fast lap at 93.012 mph in 131.983 seconds and he also set a track record average lap speed of 92.941 mph.

    “It’s truly a testament to all the people around me,” Zilisch said after qualifying. “This Spire Motorsports team, (crew chief) Brian Pattie, everybody back at the shop, killer, killer job. This thing was basically driving itself. I don’t even want to take any of the credit for it. It’s awesome to come here in my first race and be on the pole. Thank you to everybody who supported me along the way. It’s super cool to have Austin Hatcher Foundation on the truck.”

    He concluded by saying, “It’s an honor to be on the pole in my first race but we still have a lot of work to do tomorrow.”

    The pole is one of several highlights this year for the seventeen-year-old beginning with the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway in January where he won a LMP2 class victory in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. He also scored a class win in the 12 Hours of Sebring one week ago.

    Corey Heim will start beside Zilisch on the front row after posting a qualifying lap of 92.512 mph in the No. 11 TRICON Garage entry. Heim’s teammate, Taylor Gray, will start third in the No. 17 Chevrolet followed by Nick Sanchez in the No. 2 Rev Racing Chevrolet. Ross Chastain will round out the top five in the No. 45 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet.

    Jack Hawksworth, Tanner Gray, Layne Riggs, Ty Majeski and Christian Eckes completed the top-10 fastest drivers in the qualifying session.

    The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series XPEL 225 will be broadcast on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1 with radio coverage provided by MRN and SiriusXM Radio.

  • Daniel Dye earns first NASCAR Truck Series career pole at Atlanta

    Daniel Dye earns first NASCAR Truck Series career pole at Atlanta

    Daniel Dye will lead the field to green in the Craftsman Truck Series Fr8 208 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway after winning his first career pole Friday afternoon. He topped the charts with a lap time of 31.817 seconds at 174.246 mph in the No. 43 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet Silverado.

    Dye spoke about his qualifying effort, saying, “We were definitely more stuck on that second run. I don’t know if maybe that was because the tires were warmed up a little bit, still had some heat in it from that first lap. But whatever it was, it was fast enough to sit here and talk to you, so, it’s good. Exciting.”

    Tyler Ankrum, Dye’s teammate, posted the second-fastest speed of 173.467 mph and will start on the front row beside Ankrum. ThorSport Racing’s Ty Majeski qualified third in the No. 98 Ford. MHR had a strong showing, claiming four of the top five posts, with Jack Wood (fourth) and Christian Eckes (fifth).

    Grant Enfinger, Kyle Busch, Matt Crafton, Chase Purdy and Conner Jones completed the top 10 fastest drivers in qualifying.

    The Craftsman Truck Series Fr8 208 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway is scheduled for Saturday, February 24, at 2 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on FS1 with radio coverage provided by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Starting Lineup:

    1. Daniel Dye
    2. Tyler Ankrum
    3. Ty Majeski
    4. Jack Wood
    5. Christian Eckes
    6. Grant Enfinger
    7. Kyle Busch
    8. Matt Crafton
    9. Chase Purdy
    10. Conner Jones
    11 Jake Garcia
    12. Rajah Caruth
    13. Layne Riggs
    14. Ben Rhodes
    15. Colby Howard
    16. Stewart Friesen
    17. Ty Dillon
    18. Nick Sanchez
    19. Corey Heim
    20. Bayley Currey
    21. Matt Mills
    22. Tanner Gray
    23. Dean Thompson
    24. Bret Holmes
    25. Kaden Honeycutt
    26. Mason Maggio
    27. Timmy Hill
    28. Thad Moffitt
    29. Lawless Alan
    30. Mason Massey
    31. Taylor Gray
    32. Keith McGee
    33. Spencer Boyd

  • Tyler Reddick captures Cup Series Pole Award for playoff race at Charlotte

    Tyler Reddick captures Cup Series Pole Award for playoff race at Charlotte

    Tyler Reddick outpaced the qualifying field to capture the Busch Light Pole Award for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series  Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course with a 102.839 mph lap in the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota. It was his second pole this season, and his sixth Cup Series career pole.

    The race is the final event in the series Playoffs Round of 12 with only eight drivers advancing to compete for the 2023 championship. The significance of starting on the pole cannot be overstated as Reddick is currently ranked ninth in the driver standings.

    “This is what we needed to do,” Reddick said. “We had hoped and put a lot of effort into this, as all the playoff teams do for this race. For the most part, this is as good of an outcome as possible for the No. 45 team today.”

    Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, currently fourth in the driver standings, will join Reddick on the front row after qualifying second with a 102.695 mph lap in the No. 20 Toyota as Daniel Suárez starts in third place. Playoff contenders Bubba Wallace (currently 10th in the driver standings) will start fourth and Kyle Busch (currently 12th in the driver standings) will start in fifth place.

    AJ Allmendinger, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, and Ty Gibbs rounded out the top 10 in qualifying.

    Playoff contenders William Byron, with a win at Texas and Ryan Blaney, who won last week at Talladega, are safe from elimination. Playoff drivers starting outside the top 10 include Martin Truex Jr. (11th), Ross Chastain (12th), Brad Keselowski (19th) and Chris Buescher (20th). Kyle Larson crashed during practice and will start 36th as he will go to a backup car for Sunday’s race.

    You can tune into Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 at 2 p.m. ET on NBC with radio coverage provided by PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Starting Lineup:

  • Bubba Wallace collects his first pole of the season at Texas

    Bubba Wallace collects his first pole of the season at Texas

    Bubba Wallace earned his first pole of the season Saturday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway with a qualifying lap of 188.337 mph. It was his first pole of the season and the second career pole for the driver of the 23XI Racing No. 23 Toyota.  

    Wallace called it a “good start” but is focused on the bigger prize as the team heads into the first race in the Playoffs Round of 16.

    “We have the best track position right now, but we know with strategy, everything is going to change and evolve,” Wallace said. “We are going to get behind at some point, so it is just a matter of making the most of every situation that we are in. Right now, we start on the pole, if we lead all the laps – some people may pit and cut it. You are going to get behind at some point, so we’ve got to figure out how to get back up there, but you can’t get complacent on the small victories. It takes a lot of them to get to a big victory, but it’s a good start.”

    Chris Buescher laid down the second fastest lap in the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford with a 188.081 mph lap while his teammate and team-owner, Brad Keselowski, qualified third with a lap of 187.891 mph.

    Though Buescher was disappointed to miss out on the pole, when asked how important it is to start on the front row, he said, ‘It is huge. This is a very track-position-sensitive race track and with the heat this weekend I think it will be even more. With that in mind, I guess this probably puts us in the non-preferred lane for the start but we will be watching this Xfinity race very closely and try to pull what we can out of it and see what we can learn for tomorrow.”

    Joe Gibbs Racing driver, Ty Gibbs, qualified fourth (187.761 mph lap) in his No. 54 Toyota as Ross Chastain rounded out the top five in the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet.   

    AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Busch, Daniel Suárez, Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin completed the top-10 qualifiers.

    Playoff drivers who will start outside the top 10 include Kyle Larson (11th), Tyler Reddick (15th), Martin Truex Jr. (16th), William Byron (18th) and Ryan Blaney (23rd).

    You can tune into Sunday’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at 3:30 p.m. ET on the USA Network with radio coverage provided by PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Starting Lineup:

    1. Bubba Wallace
    2. Chris Buescher
    3. Brad Keselowski
    4. Ty Gibbs (R)
    5. Ross Chastain
    6. AJ Allmendinger
    7. Kyle Busch
    8. Daniel Suárez
    9. Christopher Bell
    10. Denny Hamlin
    11. Kyle Larson
    12. Erik Jones
    13. Austin Dillon
    14. Alex Bowman
    15. Tyler Reddick
    16. Martin Truex Jr.
    17. Michael McDowell
    18. William Byron
    19. Carson Hocevar
    20. Joey Logano
    21. Aric Almirola
    22. Kevin Harvick
    23. Ryan Blaney
    24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    25. Ryan Preece
    26. Ty Dillon
    27. Corey LaJoie
    28. Justin Haley
    29. Chase Elliott
    30. Harrison Burton
    31. Chase Briscoe
    32. Austin Cindric
    33. Zane Smith
    34. BJ McLeod
    35. JJ Yeley
    36. Todd Gilliland
  • Logano grabs pole for Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington

    Logano grabs pole for Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington

    Joey Logano won the NASCAR Cup Series pole Saturday with a 168.521 mph lap at Darlington Raceway. He will lead the field to green for the Cook Out Southern 500 Sunday evening in the first race of the Playoffs.  

    That makes the Team Penske driver two for two, after also winning the pole at Darlington in May. It was his 24th career pole in the series.

    “It’s obviously nice to start up front,” Logano said. “We got a taste of what that first pit stall means here at Darlington and it’s nice, for sure. It’s nice to be able to get that, but it’s just a start. 

    “We still have a full 500 miles to go,” he continued, “but, like I said, that first pit stall will pay a dividend throughout the whole race, so we’ll fire off and see what we’ve got tomorrow. 

    “Going off of practice from the spring to the race the first time, the track was much different in the race than it was in the practice. You’ve got to kind of assume some of it is gonna happen again tomorrow, so we’ll try to adjust on our car a little bit for race trim. I think we need a little bit there, but I don’t think we’re that far off. If we get a little bit more turn in our car, we’ll be right there.”

    Christopher Bell, with a 168.469 mph lap, will start beside him on the front row in his JGR Toyota followed by William Byron, Tyler Reddick, and Kyle Busch to complete the top five. Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney and Michael McDowell rounded out the top 10 in the qualifying session.

    Chase Elliot, who enters the Playoffs in the top spot, qualified a disappointing 23rd and he was not alone. Several other Playoff contenders had mediocre runs including Denny Hamlin (11), Ross Chastain (12), Austin Dillon (13), Alex Bowman (16), Kevin Harvick (18), Chase Briscoe (19), and Daniel Suarez (36).  

    Notes: Daniel Suárez failed pre-race inspection three times Saturday morning and did not make a qualifying attempt. He will have to start the race at the rear of the field and will also have to serve a pass-through penalty in his No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet.     

    You can tune into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs opening race at Darlington Raceway on Sunday evening at 6 p.m. ET on the USA Network, NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

  • Joey Logano earns pole for Goodyear 400 at Darlington

    Joey Logano earns pole for Goodyear 400 at Darlington

    Joey Logano won the pole for the NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400 at Darlington after posting a lap of 28.805 (170.720 mph) Saturday morning during qualifying.

    It was his first pole since June of 2019 and the 23rd of his career.

    “Oh, it was so much needed for all of us here,” Logano said. “The last couple of weeks were pretty rough, getting in a couple of crashes and not being strong at Dover.”

    Kyle Larson qualified second with a 170.236 mph lap followed by Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch to round out the top five fastest drivers.

    Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick were unable to take part in qualifying after problems in the preceding practice session.

    Elliott made hard contact with the wall due to a flat left rear tire and will have to go to a backup car for the race. Harvick had a flat tire which damaged the rear diffuser and was unable to qualify while his team made repairs. Both drivers will start from the rear of the field for the Goodyear 400 along with B.J. McLeod who also did not make a qualifying attempt.

    Additionally, there were issues during pre-qualifying inspection. The following teams failed inspection twice Friday and each team will have a crew member ejected and will lose their pit stall selection:

    No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team
    No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
    No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
    No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

  • Chase Elliott wins pole for Sunday’s race at Phoenix

    Chase Elliott wins pole for Sunday’s race at Phoenix

    Continuing the Hendrick Motorsports momentum in 2020, Chase Elliott qualified on the pole at Phoenix Raceway for the NASCAR Cup Series FanShield 500 with a time of 26.06 seconds/138.116 mph, edging out nine-time Phoenix winner, Kevin Harvick by 0.045 seconds.

    “The line through Turns 1 and 2 was a lot different,” Elliott said. “Kevin (Harvick) kind of made the top line work and then I think after that, everyone saw that and moved up. So, it’s great to get a pole. We’re in a little bit different colors this week with Unifirst on our Camaro. So, I’m excited to grab them a pole. It’s always a good thing when you can put down a fast lap. Hopefully, I just hope tomorrow goes good. That’s always the challenge. We’ll see, and I’m looking forward to it.”

    Meanwhile, last week’s Auto Club 400 winner and Elliott’s teammate, Alex Bowman, qualified in the eighth position for Sunday’s race. Though, this weekend might prove a little bit of a challenge for the hometown native of Tuscon, Arizona.

    “I didn’t expect more,” Bowman said. “I really felt like we’ve been off since we unloaded. We really struggled here in the fall with just being really tight and when we unloaded, we were still really tight. In between practices, we made some changes and got it really loose. It didn’t really necessarily get much faster, but I feel like it’s going to be better that way than when it’s tight. The first lap, I probably over-did it a little bit in turn one there. The second lap, to be eighth, I don’t think that’s the end of the world. I would have liked to be a little better, but as bad as we’ve been here in the fast and as bad as were in practice, we’ll take it. If we could come out of here with a top-ten, I would be high-fiving people after the race. Our short track program, this is the area we need to work on. Our intermediate program is phenomenal and it ended that way last year. Our short track program is the area we need to work on the most.”

    Official Qualifying Results

    1. Chase Elliott
    2. Kevin Harvick
    3. Denny Hamlin
    4. Kyle Larson
    5. Ryan Blaney
    6. Aric Almirola
    7. Kurt Busch
    8. Alex Bowman
    9. Matt DiBenedetto
    10. Kyle Busch
    11. Erik Jones
    12. Martin Truex Jr. (Will start in the rear due to engine change prior to qualifying)
    13. Joey Logano
    14. Brad Keselowski
    15. Christopher Bell
    16. Cole Custer
    17. William Byron
    18. Clint Bowyer
    19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    20. Ryan Preece
    21. Jimmie Johnson
    22. Michael McDowell
    23. Chris Buescher
    24. Ross Chastain
    25. Ty Dillon
    26. John Hunter Nemechek (Will start in the rear for a radiator change)
    27. Bubba Wallace
    28. Corey LaJoie
    29. Tyler Reddick
    30. Austin Dillon
    31. Daniel Suarez
    32. Brennan Poole
    33. J.J. Yeley
    34. Quin Houff
    35. Reed Sorenson
    36. Garrett Smithley
    37. Joey Gase
    38. Timmy Hill

    The Fan Shield can be seen on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET live on regular FOX. The stages are 75-115-122 equaling 312 laps.