How about that for a qualifying surprise?
Chris Buescher and RFK Racing posted the quickest time in the second round of Saturday’s single-car qualifying session at Dover Motor Speedway, capturing his first career NASCAR Cup Series pole.
Buescher put down a stellar time of 22.479 seconds (160.149mph) early in the second round of qualifying for Sunday’s 400-lap contest, good enough to notch RFK Racing the team’s first pole since 2017 and its first on a non-superspeedway since the end of 2013.
Denny Hamlin – who since winning at Richmond, has failed to score another top-10 finish — will start alongside Buescher when the field takes the green flag on Sunday. Kyle Larson will start the race in third, with Chase Elliott, and Ryan Blaney rounding out the top-five.
Rounding out the first five rows for Sunday’s race at Dover were Alex Bowman, Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez, Bubba Wallace, and Kyle Busch.
Notables that didn’t advance to the second round of qualifying include Kevin Harvick (11th), Kurt Busch (16th), Christopher Bell (17th), Martin Truex Jr. (18th), Brad Keselowski (20th), Joey Logano (22nd), Chase Briscoe (23rd), and Aric Almirola (27th).
After being involved in incidents throughout the NASCAR Cup Series’ group practice session, William Byron, Todd Gilliland, Harrison Burton, and Josh Bilicki were unable to make a lap in qualifying, relegating them to starts outside the top-30.
Qualifying Results:
Qualifying Results: 2022 NASCAR Cup Series DuraMAX Drydene 400
