BRISTOL, Tenn. – AJ Allmendinger surprised the NASCAR Cup Series playoff drivers at Bristol Motor Speedway, by taking the pole position for Saturday night’s first-round elimination race at the 0.533-mile oval. The Kaulig Racing driver led the qualifying for the first time in 10 years, setting a lap of 15.117 seconds (126.930 mph) on Friday in his No. 16 Chevrolet. With his fifth career Cup race pole and first since August 2015 at Watkins Glen, the 43-year-old Allmendinger became the oldest driver to win a pole at Bristol since Mark Martin, who was 50 in 2009.
Allmendinger, whose previous pole on an oval was in Kansas in April 2012, added: “Hopefully, we can do that for 500 laps. I know it’s Friday night qualifying and it doesn’t give points or money, but they are small victories like this for our racing team that is trying to grow continuously. Days like today are nice and give me confidence because I feel like I can still do it. It shows that I can be here.” Ryan 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 get the 15 points needed to secure a spot in the second round from his fourth front-row start this season.Getting a pole in Bristol is something impressive.
AJ Allmendinger
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.I think our race car is really good for the long run and I’m looking forward to [Saturday] night. Overall, I’m proud of the effort, and being so close to the pole is a good day.
Ryan Blaney
Playoff 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.It’s the first box checked, but nothing is guaranteed from here. I feel like we’ve done our job for Friday. This sets us up well to try and keep controlling our destiny for the end of the race.
Austin Cindric
