Corey Day is officially a pole winner in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series ranks, as the Hendrick Motorsports developmental driver secured the top starting spot for Saturday’s event at Rockingham Speedway.
Day turned a fast lap time of 22.717 seconds (148.963 mph) in the session, which allowed him to top defending series champion Jesse Love for the pole by a margin of 0.064 seconds.
Parker Retzlaff was third, followed by Justin Allgaier, and Carson Kvapil inside the top-five.
Cleetus McFarland, making his series debut, will start from the 35th position in the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
Here is the full starting lineup for Saturday’s NC Education Lottery 250 at Rockingham Speedway.
North Carolina Education Lottery 250 Starting Lineup
| Pos | Car | Driver | Team | Lap time | Diff | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 | Corey Day | Hendrick Motorsports HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 22.717 | -- | 148.963 |
| 2 | 2 | Jesse Love | Richard Childress Racing Whelen Chevrolet | 22.781 | 0.064 | 148.545 |
| 3 | 99 | Parker Retzlaff | Viking Motorsports FUNKAWAY Chevrolet | 22.822 | 0.105 | 148.278 |
| 4 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports Jarrett Logistics Chevrolet | 22.823 | 0.106 | 148.271 |
| 5 | 1 | Carson Kvapil | JR Motorsports Arby's Chevrolet | 22.839 | 0.122 | 148.168 |
| 6 | 54 | Taylor Gray | Joe Gibbs Racing Operation 300 Toyota | 22.85 | 0.133 | 148.096 |
| 7 | 41 | Sam Mayer | Haas Factory Team Audibel Chevrolet | 22.852 | 0.135 | 148.083 |
| 8 | 20 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing Menards / Pelonis Toyota | 22.86 | 0.143 | 148.031 |
| 9 | 00 | Sheldon Creed | Haas Factory Team Ollie's Chevrolet | 22.863 | 0.146 | 148.012 |
| 10 | 19 | Brent Crews # | Joe Gibbs Racing Mobil 1 Toyota | 22.888 | 0.171 | 147.850 |
| 11 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing 1-800-PACK-RAT Chevrolet | 22.891 | 0.174 | 147.831 |
| 12 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing Sci Aps Chevrolet | 22.893 | 0.176 | 147.818 |
| 13 | 88 | Rajah Caruth | JR Motorsports HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 22.894 | 0.177 | 147.812 |
| 14 | 18 | William Sawalich | Joe Gibbs Racing SoundGear Toyota | 22.958 | 0.241 | 147.400 |
| 15 | 96 | Anthony Alfredo | Viking Motorsports Dude Wipes MentHOLE Chevrolet | 22.967 | 0.250 | 147.342 |
| 16 | 24 | Harrison Burton | Sam Hunt Racing Elite Rewards Toyota | 22.967 | 0.250 | 147.342 |
| 17 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing Alliance Driveway Solutions Chevrolet | 23.043 | 0.326 | 146.856 |
| 18 | 26 | Dean Thompson | Sam Hunt Racing Thompson Pipe Group Toyota | 23.058 | 0.341 | 146.760 |
| 19 | 8 | Sammy Smith | JR Motorsports TruckClub Chevrolet | 23.088 | 0.371 | 146.570 |
| 20 | 45 | Lavar Scott # | Alpha Prime Racing Sunoco Chevrolet | 23.128 | 0.411 | 146.316 |
| 21 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | RSS Racing Night Owl Companies Chevrolet | 23.158 | 0.441 | 146.127 |
| 22 | 48 | Patrick Staropoli # | Big Machine Racing SYFOVRE Chevrolet | 23.165 | 0.448 | 146.082 |
| 23 | 87 | Austin Green | Peterson Racing Group 3-Dimensional Services Chevrolet | 23.179 | 0.462 | 145.994 |
| 24 | 44 | Brennan Poole | Alpha Prime Racing Frontline Fire Protection Chevrolet | 23.265 | 0.548 | 145.455 |
| 25 | 92 | Josh Williams | DGM Racing Chevrolet | 23.343 | 0.626 | 144.969 |
| 26 | 42 | Nathan Byrd | Young's Motorsports Chevrolet | 23.39 | 0.673 | 144.677 |
| 27 | 31 | Blaine Perkins | Jordan Anderson Racing EasyCare / Bommarito.com Chevrolet | 23.417 | 0.700 | 144.510 |
| 28 | 5 | JJ Yeley | Hettinger Racing Victory Custom Trailers Ford | 23.489 | 0.772 | 144.067 |
| 29 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Jordan Anderson Racing CELSIUS Chevrolet | 23.5 | 0.783 | 144.000 |
| 30 | 91 | Alex Labbe | DGM Racing eRacing Association Chevrolet | 23.529 | 0.812 | 143.823 |
| 31 | 32 | Andrew Patterson | Jordan Anderson Racing WinSupply / SCS GearBox Chevrolet | 23.578 | 0.861 | 143.524 |
| 32 | 02 | Ryan Ellis | Young's Motorsports AMC Tablo TV Chevrolet | 23.578 | 0.861 | 143.524 |
| 33 | 07 | Josh Bilicki | SS-GreenLight Racing Chevrolet | 23.669 | 0.952 | 142.972 |
| 34 | 74 | Dawson Cram | Mike Harmon Racing Chevrolet | 23.871 | 1.154 | 141.762 |
| 35 | 33 | Cleetus McFarland | Richard Childress Racing Tommy's Express Car Wash Chevrolet | 23.978 | 1.261 | 141.129 |
| 36 | 35 | Joey Gase | Joey Gase Motorsports Chevrolet | 24.074 | 1.357 | 140.567 |
| 37 | 55 | Blake Lothian | Joey Gase Motorsports Chevrolet | 24.686 | 1.969 | 137.082 |
| 38 | 0 | Garrett Smithley | SS-GreenLight Racing Chevrolet | 0 | -- | 0.000 |
Photo: Jonathan McCoy | TobyChristie.com