Austin Hill Beats Teammate Sheldon Creed for Xfinity Pole at Talladega

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Austin Hill scored the pole for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Talladega, posting the quickest time in the second round of qualifying to lead over teammate Sheldon Creed. PC: Jonathan McCoy | TobyChristie.com

Austin Hill and Richard Childress Racing have continued their dominance on the superspeedways in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, scoring the pole for Saturday’s Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Hill, the sole three-time winner on the season, posted a killer time in the second round of Friday’s qualifying session from the 2.66-mile superspeedway, laying down a 49.483-second lap, equivalent to 182.459mph.

As has come to be expected, Hill posted the quickest time in each of the two qualifying rounds on Friday, leading a laundry list of drivers and teams sporting ECR Engines behind him.

Sheldon Creed, Hill’s teammate at Richard Childress Racing, will start on the front row alongside the No. 21, despite posting a time nearly a quarter-second slower than the eventual polesitter.

Breaking up the party of Chevrolet Camaros at the front of the field, John Hunter Nemechek qualified his No. 20 Toyota GR Supra in third place for Saturday’s 300-mile contest.

In fourth, Parker Retzlaff earned a top-five spot for the second consecutive weekend in his No. 31 Chevrolet for Jordan Anderson Racing. Jade Buford, driving a second entry for Big Machine Racing, qualified in fifth.

Anthony Alfredo clocked in sixth, while Justin Allgaier, Jeb Burton, Daniel Hemric, and Brett Moffitt completed the top-10 in the second round of qualifying, which consisted of the quickest 10 drivers from the opening round.

Some notable drivers starting outside the top-10 in Saturday’s event include Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith, and Ryan Truex in 11th, 12th, and 13th, as well as Riley Herbst and Sam Mayer in 15th and 16th.

Cole Custer will start Saturday’s race from 18th for Stewart-Haas Racing, while Parker Kligerman will start from last-place, after blowing a right-rear tire on his warmup lap. NASCAR gave Big Machine Racing the option to run again, a choice that was turned down by the team.

With 42 drivers entered for Saturday’s Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway, four drivers failed to qualify for the event, those being: Jason White (No. 13), Jesse Iwuji (No. 34), Mike Harmon (No. 74), and David Starr (No. 07).

Qualifying Results: 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega

Joseph Srigley

Joseph maintains the role of Managing Editor for TobyChristie.com, while also working as an Editor for Racing America. Additionally, Joseph graduated from the University of Windsor in 2022 with a Business Administration degree, a specialization in Supply Chain Management and Data Analytics, and a minor in Mathematics.