For just the second time in his NASCAR Xfinity Series career, Sheldon Creed has captured the pole and will lead the field to green in Saturday’s Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 at Pocono Raceway.
Driving the No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota GR Supra, Creed posted the fastest lap in Saturday’s time trial session by a significant margin, laying down a 53.810-second lap (167.255mph).
Creed’s lap clocked in 0.298 seconds faster than Brandon Jones, who will start alongside the Joe Gibbs Racing driver on the front row for Saturday’s event. Both drivers are still searching for their first Xfinity Series victory of 2024.
Justin Allgaier posted the third-fastest time in qualifying on Saturday, slotting in just behind his JR Motorsports teammate. In fourth, Taylor Gray earned his second top-five start in eight Xfinity events.
Gray is a person of interest in an experimental crew swap between the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 and No. 20 teams, which will happen in four races, as TobyChristie.com reported earlier in the week. Tyler Allen is calling the shots for the No. 19 this weekend.
Rounding out the top-five in the session was another Joe Gibbs Racing driver in Chandler Smith, whose lap time was good enough to slot the No. 81 Toyota GR Supra into fifth.
NASCAR Cup Series regular William Byron was sixth-quickest in qualifying, while the fastest driver in practice, Ryan Sieg, posted a seventh-place qualifying run. Defending Xfinity Series champion Cole Custer was eighth, with Sammy Smith and AJ Allmendinger rounding out the top-10, in ninth and tenth.
STARTING LINEUP: NASCAR Xfinity Series Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 at Pocono Raceway
Other notables in qualifying for Saturday’s 225-mile contest include Xfinity Series winners Austin Hill and Sam Mayer occupying the sixth row together.
NASCAR Cup Series regular Josh Berry was 14th, in his first race piloting the No. 15 Ford Mustang for AM Racing. Other notables include Riley Herbst (18th), Jesse Love (19th), Corey Heim (25th), Shane Van Gisbergen (26th), and Ryan Truex (34th).
Brennan Poole, driving the No. 44 Chevrolet for Alpha Prime Racing, will be forced to start at the back and serve a pass-through penalty at the start of Saturday’s Xfinity Series event at Pocono, after NASCAR determined the team made an unapproved adjustment. Upon being re-inspected, the car failed.
To prevent any advantage on tires, Poole was required to make a legitimate qualifying run, where he clocked in 27th, but the Alpha Prime Racing driver will lose out on the pit selection that comes from said qualifying run, next weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
After a mid-week decision by JD Motorsports to withdraw the No. 6 Chevrolet Camaro (originally scheduled to be driven by Garrett Smithley), the entry list for Saturday’s Explore The Pocono Mountains 225 dropped to 38 vehicles, ensuring all who showed up to Pocono Raceway a spot in the field.
