In his short NASCAR Xfinity Series tenure, Jesse Love has taken advantage of the blazing-fast Chevrolet Camaros that Richard Childress Racing brings to the superspeedways, capturing his fifth pole position of the 2024 season.
The driver of the No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro was the quickest in both rounds of qualifying from Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, earning the pole for the United Rentals 250.
With a lap time of 52.578 seconds (182.129mph), Love was able to triumph over Richard Childress Racing teammate Austin Hill to score the pole position, the fifth of the season for the 19-year-old and the sixth of 2024 for RCR.
Austin Hill, who has been dominant in qualifying on the superspeedways the last couple of seasons, will start alongside Love. The third-year driver only managed to record one pole this season, at this racetrack in the Spring — the race that his teammate, Love, ended up winning.
Joe Gibbs Racing brought the superspeedway pace from Daytona back to Talladega Superspeedway with playoff-eligible teammates Chandler Smith and Sheldon Creed starting Saturday’s event from third and fourth place.
STARTING LINEUP: 2024 NXS United Rentals 250 at Talladega
AJ Allmendinger, also utilizing an ECR Engine and an alliance mate of Richard Childress Racing, will complete the top five. Parker Kligerman, Riley Herbst, Shane Van Gisbergen, Aric Almirola, and Cole Custer completed the top-10.
Almirola, who won last weekend’s Xfinity Series event at Kansas Speedway, will have to drop to the rear of the field on the pace laps, and then serve a drive-through on the first lap of the event after an inspection issue was found with the windshield on the No. 20.
Other notable drivers to start outside the top-10 in Saturday’s event include Sam Mayer (12th), Justin Allgaier (14th), and Sammy Smith (27th).
Caesar Bacarella, driving the No. 45 Chevrolet for Alpha Prime Racing, will start shotgun on the field in Saturday’s event, after having a major engine issue during his qualifying lap. The team will scramble to have the engine changed before the race begins.
The United Rentals 250 will take place on Saturday, October 5 at 4:00 PM. Coverage will be on The CW, with radio broadcasts on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
