How’s that for a surprise? For the first time in more than a decade, AJ Allmendinger will be leading the field to green in a NASCAR Cup Series event, securing the pole Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Driving the No. 16 Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing, Allmendinger posted a fast time of 15.117 seconds (126.930mph) in qualifying on Friday, securing him the pole position by three one-thousandths of a second.
“I don’t know, I closed my eyes for both of them, so I’m not really sure,” Allmendinger joked after qualifying. “This Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet in practice was pretty good, and this place is tough to qualify, but the first lap she stuck and I looked at the dash and thought, ‘Okay, that’s a pretty good lap, so I’m going to try for more on the second’.”
It’s the fifth career pole position for Allmendinger in the NASCAR Cup Series, the most recent of which came in August 2015 at Watkins Glen International, driving for JYG Daugherty Racing.
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The last time Allmendinger started from the pole on an oval? Kansas Speedway in May 2012, while driving the No. 22 Dodge for Roger Penske and Team Penske.
“I know it’s just qualifying, we got 500 laps around this place,” Allmendinger added. “But, to get a pole at Bristol, that’s pretty awesome.”
Ryan Blaney, who looked to be one of the fastest drivers in Friday’s practice session, will start from the second position. Blaney’s teammate at Team Penske, Austin Cindric, will roll from third place.
Ty Gibbs put up a solid qualifying effort to start Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race from fourth, with Kyle Larson — the winner of the last two NASCAR Cup Series events at Bristol Motor Speedway — rounding out the top five.
Denny Hamlin was sixth, with William Byron, Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell, and Josh Berry (all drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs) rounding out the top-10.
Half of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff field (eight drivers) failed to secure a starting spot inside the top-10, starting with Ross Chastain in 13th. Tyler Reddick (14th), Alex Bowman (15th), Chase Elliott (16th), Joey Logano (22nd), Austin Dillon (23rd), Shane Van Gisbergen (28th), and Chase Briscoe (31st) will all have some work to do when the green flag drops on Saturday.
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Other notable non-playoff drivers starting outside the top-10 for Saturday’s event include Kyle Busch (32nd), Austin Hill (33rd), and Corey Heim (38th). Chad Finchum, driving the No. 66 Ford Mustang for Garage 66, will start shotgun on the field in 39th.
The Bass Pro Shops Night Race will take place on Saturday, September 13 at 7:30 PM ET on USA Network, Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
