In an exciting qualifying day at Bristol Motor Speedway, driver AJ Allmendinger, from the Kaulig Racing team, surprised everyone by obtaining the pole position for the crucial NASCAR Cup Series race.
Allmendinger Takes the Lead in Qualifying
Allmendinger, aboard his number 16 Chevrolet, clocked a time of 15.117 seconds (126.930 mph) on Friday, securing the first place on the starting grid. This is the first time in ten years that Allmendinger has achieved the pole position, and his fifth in his Cup career. At 43 years old, Allmendinger becomes the oldest driver to win a pole at Bristol since Mark Martin, who achieved it at 50 in 2009.Ryan Blaney, with his number 12 Ford, qualified in second place, just 0.003 seconds behind Allmendinger. Blaney is in a solid position to secure a spot in the second round, needing 15 points to achieve it.Getting the pole in Bristol is incredible. I hope we can keep this pace for the 500 laps. Although it’s Friday and it doesn’t add points or money, they are small victories for our team, which is constantly growing. Days like today give me confidence, because I feel that I can still do it.
AJ Allmendinger
Austin Cindric, Blaney’s teammate, finished third, followed by Ty Gibbs and Kyle Larson, who is seeking his third consecutive victory at Bristol. Cindric, currently 12th in the standings, is 11 points above the cut line before the 500-lap race, where four of the 16 playoff drivers will be eliminated.I think our 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, it’s a good day.
Ryan Blaney
Other playoff drivers who completed the top 10 were Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Bubba Wallace, Josh Berry, and Christopher Bell. The starting position of other playoff drivers is as follows: 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 step, but nothing is guaranteed. I feel like we did our job on Friday. This sets us up well to try and control our destiny for the end of the race.
Austin Cindric
