Jesse Love has this whole qualifying thing figured out. The driver of the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro in the NASCAR Xfinity Series made a little bit of history with his 31.874 sec. lap time in the final round of qualifying for Saturday’s RAPTOR King of Tough 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
By clocking in the fastest lap in the final round, Love scored his second consecutive pole in his second career NASCAR Xfinity Series start. Per TobyChristie.com’s Joseph Srigley, no driver before Love had ever scored two consecutive pole positions to start their NASCAR Xfinity Series career.
“Obviously, it’s really cool to say I think we’ve broken one or two records now,” Love said. “These qualifying [sessions] at these speedways, there’s a little bit the driver can do, but the biggest thing is this speaks volumes to how good our team is. Everybody knows how good Danny Stockman is. Our car chief Bug, they all click really well together. And our road crew is really phenomenal.
Love’s teammate Austin Hill, who won the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway, will lineup alongside Love on the front row of Saturday’s race at Atlanta. Hill came up just 0.042 sec. shy of snagging the pole himself.
John Hunter Nemechek will roll from the third starting spot in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota GR Supra, and he will be joined by Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst in row two.
Parker Kligerman, Sam Mayer, AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Truex, Justin Allgaier, and Sheldon Creed rounded out the top-10 starters for Saturday’s event at the 1.540-mile speedway in Hampton, Georgia.
Defending series champion Cole Custer just missed out on the final round of qualifying, as he clocked in 11th-fastest in the opening round of the session, and right behind Custer was Kaulig Racing’s rookie contender Shane van Gisbergen.
Jordan Anderson, who impressed at Daytona International Speedway by leading laps late in the event and ultimately by finishing fourth, had an engine issue with his No. 32 Chevrolet Camaro in the session. As a result, Anderson will start Saturday’s RAPTOR King of Tough 250 at Atlanta from the 38th and final starting spot.
RAPTOR KING of Tough 250 Qualifying Results / Starting Lineup
Qualifying Results: 2024 NXS RAPTOR King of Tough 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway
