For the last half-decade or so, when it comes to the superspeedways in the NASCAR Cup Series, the expectation has been for Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports to score the pole position.
However, as of late, it’s been Joe Gibbs Racing dominating qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway, a trend that continued in Saturday’s single-car qualifying session at the 2.66-mile superspeedway, where Denny Hamlin captured the pole for Sunday’s GEICO 500.
Posting a time of 52.979 seconds (180.751mph), Hamlin was the only driver in the field to break into the 52-second bracket in qualifying, securing his 37th pole in the NASCAR Cup Series.
The pole by Hamlin continues a streak for Joe Gibbs Racing, in which the organization has had one of its entries start from first place in each of the last seven events at Talladega Superspeedway – only four of those by means of qualifying, though.
Aric Almirola, who comes off a season-high sixth-place finish at Martinsville, will start alongside Hamlin on the front row in Sunday’s 500-mile contest. Ty Gibbs, Hamlin’s teammate and Rookie of The Year Contender, will start the race from third.
Chase Briscoe will start fourth, after being quickest in the opening round of qualifying, while Ryan Blaney, a two-time winner at Talladega will start fifth. Christopher Bell secured a sixth-place qualifying run for Sunday’s race, with Martin Truex, Jr., Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, and Chris Buescher completing the top-10.
Other notables that failed to advance to the second round of qualifying, include Kevin Harvick (11th), Tyler Reddick (13th), Kyle Busch (17th), William Byron (18th), Brad Keselowski (20th), Ross Chastain (23rd), Alex Bowman (27th), Chase Elliott (29th), and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (33rd).
All 38 cars entered for Sunday’s GEICO 500 were able to make a lap in Saturday’s single-car qualifying session, all doing so without any major issues, the slowest of which was JJ Yeley in the No. 51 for Rick Ware Racing.
Qualifying Results / Starting Lineup:
2023 NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 at Talladega Qualifying Results
