Michael McDowell soars to Talladega pole
Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
TALLADEGA, Ala. — Ford led qualifying for Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), with Michael McDowell earning the second pole position of his career Saturday.
McDowell’s No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford made a dramatic run in the final round of qualifying, with a speed of 182.022 mph around the 2.66-mile high banks, just edging fellow Mustang driver Austin Cindric, whose top speed in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford was 181.739 mph. It was a dramatic birthday nod for the Ford Mustang, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this week.
Superspeedway racing has been a strong suit for 39-year-old Phoenix native McDowell. He started on the outside of the front row for the season-opening Daytona 500 and won his only other pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March. Sunday will mark his fifth top-10 starting spot of 2024.
“I think we all felt that pressure knowing how strong we were at Daytona and Atlanta to come here to Talladega and repeat and have a really good starting spot,” said McDowell, the 2021 Daytona 500 winner and last year’s Indianapolis Road Course winner.
“The guys put a lot of energy and effort into all the little extra details it takes to get that speed so excited for tomorrow and feel good about what we’ve been able to do this year with our superspeedway program.
“This is a good week for us to get a win,” McDowell added with a smile, noting the Ford Mustang anniversary.
Ford, which has yet to secure a trophy in the season’s nine races, certainly stacked Talladega qualifying. McDowell’s teammate Todd Gilliland – who has led the most superspeedway laps this year – was third fastest in the No. 38 Ford, followed by Richard Childress Racing teammates Kyle Busch in the No. 8 Chevy and Austin Dillon in the No. 3 Chevrolet. Busch is the defending race winner.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. was the top Toyota in qualifying and his No. 19 Camry will roll off sixth. Team Penske’s Joey Logano will start seventh in the No. 22 Ford Mustang, followed by Ford teammate Roush Fenway Keselowski’s Chris Buescher, last week’s race winner Chase Elliott in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and Christopher Bell in the No. 20 JGR Toyota.
Of note, NASCAR Cup Series championship leader Kyle Larson will be starting last in the 38-car field.
His No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet wasn’t allowed to qualify Saturday because team members were seen tampering with the roof rails while pushing the car to pit road. NASCAR deemed it an unapproved adjustment and immediately disallowed a qualifying attempt.
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Ryan Preece will start 11th in the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford – his best qualifying run, by far, this season. Also of note, Hendrick Motorsports William Byron, a series-best three-race winner this season, will roll off 13th, alongside 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace, who earned his first career victory here in 2021.
Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Penske Racing’s Ryan Blaney – who has three Talladega victories including last Fall in the Playoffs, will start 21st. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, a two-time winner at the track, will start 23rd.
Starting Line Up by Row
Talladega Superspeedway
GEICO 500
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 4/20/2024 @ 12:05 PM Eastern
Driver Date Time Speed
Track Race Record: Mark Martin 05/10/97 2:39:18 188.354
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
Row 1: 1 34 Michael McDowell Love's Travel Stops Ford 52.609 182.022
2 2 Austin Cindric Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford 52.691 181.739
Row 2: 3 38 Todd Gilliland gener8tor Ford 52.789 181.401
4 8 Kyle Busch Cheddar's Chevrolet 52.863 181.147
Row 3: 5 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 52.969 180.785
6 19 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota 52.992 180.707
Row 4: 7 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 53.044 180.529
8 17 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford 53.119 180.274
Row 5: 9 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 53.122 180.264
10 20 Christopher Bell Mobil 1 Toyota 53.198 180.007
Row 6: 11 41 Ryan Preece United Rentals Ford 53.175 180.085
12 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 53.183 180.058
Row 7: 13 24 William Byron Liberty University Chevrolet 53.185 180.051
14 23 Bubba Wallace Leidos Toyota 53.186 180.047
Row 8: 15 54 Ty Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota 53.208 179.973
16 21 Harrison Burton Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 53.211 179.963
Row 9: 17 16 Shane Van Gisbergen(i) Wendy's Chevrolet 53.226 179.912
18 45 Tyler Reddick Jordan Brand Toyota 53.262 179.790
Row 10: 19 31 Daniel Hemric Cirkul Chevrolet 53.298 179.669
20 42 John Hunter Nemechek AdventHealth Toyota 53.306 179.642
Row 11: 21 12 Ryan Blaney Wabash Ford 53.320 179.595
22 6 Brad Keselowski Castrol Edge Ford 53.322 179.588
Row 12: 23 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ultimate Fan Contest Toyota 53.407 179.302
24 62 Anthony Alfredo(i) Dude Wipes Chevrolet 53.411 179.289
Row 13: 25 99 Daniel Suarez Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet 53.414 179.279
26 14 Chase Briscoe Mahindra Tractors Ford 53.455 179.141
Row 14: 27 51 Justin Haley Parts Plus Ford 53.478 179.064
28 43 Erik Jones Family Dollar Toyota 53.480 179.058
Row 15: 29 4 Josh Berry # Overstock.com Ford 53.487 179.034
30 71 Zane Smith # Focused Health Chevrolet 53.532 178.884
Row 16: 31 7 Corey LaJoie Gainbridge Chevrolet 53.543 178.847
32 1 Ross Chastain Jockey Outdoors by Luke Bryan Chevrolet 53.590 178.690
Row 17: 33 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Boost/Thomas'/Philadelphia Chevrolet 53.686 178.371
34 15 Cody Ware Jacob Construction Ford 53.720 178.258
Row 18: 35 77 Carson Hocevar # Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet 53.767 178.102
36 10 Noah Gragson Overstock.com Ford 53.811 177.956
Row 19: 37 78 BJ McLeod(i) Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet 54.290 176.386
38 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 16 0 Ford 14 0
Toyota 8 0
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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