On Friday, at EchoPark Speedway (formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway), Sheldon Creed disrupted the protocol for what a typical NASCAR Xfinity Series superspeedway qualifying session is supposed to look like.
Richard Childress Racing (RCR) has typically dominated these qualifying sessions, but Sheldon Creed, driving the No. 00 Ford Mustang for Haas Factory Team, ended up taking the pole for the Focused Health 250 instead.
With lightning in a certain radius of the racetrack, qualifying was called off after the first round, leaving the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation-sponsored Ford Mustang Dark Horse with the fastest lap time.
As it turned out, the 32.107-second time in the first round of qualifying was enough to award Creed his fourth pole in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the first for Ford Performance on a drafting track since 2014.
STARTING LINEUP: 2025 NXS Focused Health 250 at EchoPark Speedway
Austin Hill will start Friday’s event from the outside of the front row, with Sam Mayer, Creed’s teammate at Haas Factory Team, starting in the third position. Brandon Jones and Jesse Love rounded out the top five in qualifying.
Connor Zilisch, winner of the most recent Xfinity Series event at Pocono Raceway, was sixth and the fastest of the four JR Motorsports entries. Taylor Gray, a fellow rookie, will start just behind in seventh.
The biggest surprise of the qualifying session came courtesy of CJ McLaughlin and DGM Racing, with the No. 91 Chevrolet earning an eighth-place starting spot for Friday’s event at EchoPark Speedway. Before this weekend’s event, McLaughlin had a career-best start of 21st.
Harrison Burton will roll from ninth place, with Aric Almirola rounding out the top-10.
Other notables include Nick Sanchez (11th), William Sawalich (12th), Ryan Sieg (13th), Sammy Smith (14th), Justin Allgaier (16th), Christian Eckes (17th), Daniel Dye (22nd), Carson Kvapil (24th), and Jeb Burton (27th).
Mason Maggio was the only driver who didn’t turn a lap in qualifying on Friday and will start from last place (38th) in the No. 53 Control Alt Protect Ford Mustang for Joey Gase Motorsports.
