Allmendinger Surprises: Pole at Bristol After 10 Years, Blaney Second

BRISTOL, Tenn. – AJ Allmendinger surprised the NASCAR Cup Series playoff drivers at Bristol Motor Speedway, securing the pole position for Saturday night’s first-round elimination race on the 0.533-mile oval.The Kaulig Racing driver secured the first starting position for the first time in 10 years, clocking a lap of 15.117 seconds (126.930 mph) on Friday in his No. 16 Chevrolet. With this, his fifth pole position in a Cup race and the first since August 2015 at Watkins Glen, 43-year-old Allmendinger became the oldest driver to win a pole at Bristol since Mark Martin, who was 50 in 2009.

“Getting a pole in Bristol is something incredible,” said Allmendinger, whose previous pole on an oval was in Kansas in April 2012. “Hopefully we can do that for 500 laps. I know it’s Friday night qualifying and it doesn’t give points or money, but it’s little victories like this for our race team that’s trying to continually grow. Days like today are nice and give me confidence because I feel like I can still do it. It shows I can be here.”

AJ AllmendingerRyan Blaney will start second after losing the pole by 0.003 seconds in his No. 12 Ford, but the Team Penske driver is in a solid position to earn the 15 points needed to secure a spot in the second round from his fourth front-row start this season.

“I think our race car is really good for the long run and I’m looking forward to [Saturday] night,” Blaney said. “Overall, I’m proud of the effort, and being so close to the pole is a good day.”

Ryan Blaney

His teammate Austin Cindric qualified third, followed by Ty Gibbs and Kyle Larson, who is seeking his third consecutive victory at Bristol.Cindric is 12th in the standings and 11 points above the cut line before the 500-lap race that will eliminate four of the 16 playoff drivers.

“It’s the first box checked, but nothing is guaranteed from here,” Cindric said. “I feel like we’ve done our job on Friday. This sets us up well to try and continue to control our destiny for the end of the race.”

Austin CindricPlayoff drivers rounded out the rest of the top 10 in the standings with Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Bubba Wallace, Josh Berry, and Christopher Bell.The finishing positions of the other playoff drivers are: Ross Chastain 13th, Tyler Reddick 14th, Alex Bowman 15th, Chase Elliott 16th, Joey Logano 22nd, Austin Dillon 23rd, and Shane van Gisbergen 28th.