Alex Bowman secures NASCAR Cup Series pole at Bristol
Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Alex Bowman continued his solid effort in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs on Friday, securing the pole position for Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway (7 p.m. ET, USA, NBC Sports App, PRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
In the final round of times trials at the 0.533-mile high-banked concrete track, Bowman sped around the “World’s Fastest Half Mile” in 15.142 seconds (126.720 mph) — the fastest lap of the day — to earn his first Busch Light Pole Award of the season by 0.003 seconds over Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron (126.695 mph).
Because Bowman and Byron both qualified in Group B, Byron will start third, with fellow Hendrick driver Kyle Larson (fastest from Group A at 126.378 mph) on the front row beside Bowman.
After finishing fifth at Atlanta and 18th at Watkins Glen, Bowman enters the elimination race fourth in the playoff standings, 41 points above the current cut line for the Round of 12. After Saturday’s race, the bottom four of the 16 playoff drivers will be eliminated from title eligibility.
“In qualifying, I had a lot of grip,” said Bowman, who won his first pole at Bristol and the fifth of his career. “I was a little bit too tight. It was one of those situations where you run a lap, and it’s either going to be really good or really slow. When you’re tight, you slow down so you can turn.
“Obviously, after the first round (where he tied Chase Briscoe for the fastest lap), I felt really good about it. Thankful to start up front and qualify well. Obviously, qualifying has been not our strongest suit over the years, so being the cutoff race and everything, starting up front is really important.”
With Chase Elliott claiming the 10th spot on the grid, all four Hendrick drivers advanced to the final round.
Martin Truex Jr., who starts the night race 15th in the standings and 14 points below the cut line, helped his chances with a qualifying effort that earned the fourth starting spot.
Likewise, teammate Denny Hamlin — six points on the wrong side of the bubble — hopes to make good use of his eighth-place qualifying effort. Hamlin has won the last two races at Thunder Valley.
Briscoe will start fifth, one position ahead of points leader Christopher Bell. Non-playoff drivers Carson Hocevar and Corey LaJoie, both of Spire Motorsports, will take the green flag from the seventh and ninth positions, respectively.
Other playoff drivers qualified as follows: Ty Gibbs 13th, Tyler Reddick 15th, Joey Logano (already locked into the Round of 12 with a victory at Atlanta) 20th, defending series champion Ryan Blaney 22nd, Austin Cindric 27th, Harrison Burton 34th and Daniel Suárez 35th.
Burton has the highest mountain to climb. He’s 16th in the Playoff standings, 20 points below the cutoff with elimination looming.
The No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing driver put down the quickest lap of 124.719 mph during Friday afternoon’s 45-minute practice session. Blaney (124.018 mph), Larson (123.987 mph), Byron (123.987 mph) and Elliott (123.833 mph) put down the five fastest circuits.
Blaney was fastest in 10, 15 and 20 consecutive lap averages, while Larson bested the field in 25 and 30 consecutive lap averages.
Starting Line Up by Row
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bass Pro Shops Night Race
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Friday, 9/20/2024 @ 06:19 PM Eastern
Driver Date Time Speed
Track Race Record: Charlie Glotzbach 07/11/71 2:38:12 101.074
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
Row 1: 1 48 Alex Bowman (P) Ally Chevrolet 15.142 126.720
2 5 Kyle Larson (P) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 15.183 126.378
Row 2: 3 24 William Byron (P) Z HP Chevrolet 15.145 126.695
4 19 Martin Truex Jr. (P) Bass Pro Shops Toyota 15.202 126.220
Row 3: 5 14 Chase Briscoe (P) Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford 15.170 126.486
6 20 Christopher Bell (P) DEWALT Toyota 15.242 125.889
Row 4: 7 77 Carson Hocevar # Delaware Life Chevrolet 15.217 126.096
8 11 Denny Hamlin (P) FedEx Toyota 15.269 125.666
Row 5: 9 7 Corey LaJoie Mattress Warehouse Chevrolet 15.330 125.166
10 9 Chase Elliott (P) LLumar Chevrolet 15.320 125.248
Row 6: 11 23 Bubba Wallace Toyota Genuine Parts/Mobil 1 Toyota 15.292 125.477
12 1 Ross Chastain Worldwide Express Chevrolet 15.384 124.727
Row 7: 13 54 Ty Gibbs (P) He Gets Us Toyota 15.298 125.428
14 41 Ryan Preece Old Armor Ford 15.404 124.565
Row 8: 15 45 Tyler Reddick (P) McDonald's Toyota 15.310 125.330
16 10 Noah Gragson Bass Pro Shops Winchester Ford 15.430 124.355
Row 9: 17 17 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford 15.319 125.256
18 34 Michael McDowell Love's Travel Stops Ford 15.434 124.323
Row 10: 19 16 AJ Allmendinger(i) Barger Precast Chevrolet 15.356 124.954
20 22 Joey Logano (P) Shell Pennzoil Ford 15.443 124.250
Row 11: 21 31 Daniel Hemric Doritos/Mtn Dew by Food City Chevrolet 15.357 124.946
22 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Wurth Ford 15.467 124.058
Row 12: 23 6 Brad Keselowski (P) Castrol Edge Ford 15.364 124.889
24 38 Todd Gilliland Frontline Enterprises Inc Ford 15.480 123.953
Row 13: 25 4 Josh Berry # Bed Bath & Beyond Ford 15.378 124.776
26 51 Justin Haley Pinnacle Home Improvement Ford 15.506 123.746
Row 14: 27 2 Austin Cindric (P) Menards/Monster Ford 15.392 124.662
28 42 John Hunter Nemechek Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota 15.538 123.491
Row 15: 29 8 Kyle Busch Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet 15.393 124.654
30 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 15.554 123.364
Row 16: 31 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Kroger/Dasani Chevrolet 15.467 124.058
32 43 Erik Jones Dollar Tree Toyota 15.555 123.356
Row 17: 33 71 Zane Smith # Ambetter Health Chevrolet 15.530 123.554
34 21 Harrison Burton (P) Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 15.565 123.277
Row 18: 35 99 Daniel Suarez (P) Freeway Insurance Chevrolet 15.548 123.411
36 15 Kaz Grala # Meat N' Bone Ford 15.717 122.084
Row 19: 37 66 Josh Bilicki(i) Arby's Ford 16.190 118.518
Did Not Qualify: None.
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Ford 15 0 Chevrolet 14 0
Toyota 8 0
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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