To the surprise of literally nobody, AJ Allmendinger will lead the field to green in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Road Course, scoring the pole in an abbreviated single-round group qualifying session.
Driving the No. 10 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing for the final time this season, Allmendinger picked up his third pole position of the year, and his third straight first-place starting spot at the 2.438-mile road course in Indianapolis.
The pole position marks the 11th of Allmendinger’s career in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, eight of which have come on road courses.
Posting a time of 95.033 seconds (92.393mph), the Los Gatos, California native put the Xfinity Series field on blast, leading the session by more than six-tenths of a second over fellow NASCAR Cup Series competitor Ty Gibbs, who will start on the front row for his best start of the year.
Josh Berry put down an impressive lap time, which will slot the JR Motorsports driver into a third-place starting spot for Saturday’s event, while Austin Hill, and Daniel Hemric will complete the top-five starters for the Pennzoil 150.
Cole Custer slotted in sixth, just a couple of days removed from an L1-level penalty following the series’ last event at Michigan International Speedway. Ross Chastain, driving for DGM Racing, will start in seventh place.
Eighth will be John Hunter Nemechek, who enters Indianapolis tied for the regular-season points lead with Austin Hill. Sheldon Creed and Riley Herbst have each also earned starting positions inside the top-10.
With a loaded Xfinity Series entry list this weekend, four drivers will be sent packing before the start of the annual road course event at Indianapolis, including drivers and crew members from three organizations.
Colin Garrett and Camden Murphy, both in one-off rides for SS Green Light Racing, were unable to make the show. Additionally, Will Rodgers for MBM Motorsports and Conor Daly for Alpha Prime Racing failed to make the race, as well.
Qualifying Results – NASCAR Xfinity Series Pennzoil 150 at Indy Road Course:
Qualifying Results: 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Pennzoil 150 at The Brickyard
