Zane Smith scores first career Busch Light Pole Award at Talladega
Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
TALLADEGA, Ala. — Front Row Motorsports maintained its strong position out front at Talladega Superspeedway with 24-year-old driver Zane Smith convincingly claiming the first pole position of his NASCAR Cup Series career – the third consecutive at the track for his team.
Smith, the 2022 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, will lead the field to the green flag in Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at the sport’s biggest track with two-time series champion Kyle Busch starting alongside Smith on the front row — his best start since earning pole position at Dover Motor Speedway last spring.
Smith earned his first pole position with a lap of 182.174 mph in the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford – bettering Busch’s time by a slight .132-second on the 2.66-mile circuit.
“Obviously a lot of speed,” said Smith, who was fastest in opening-round time trials and improved that time in the final round. “Just really proud of how our whole team has been working together before our one-week break [last week], and I feel like that one-week break was perfect not to reset but to digest and think about what we need to rebuild on.
“And now we’re off to a good start for this next long stretch. Proud of the speed and everything we’ve been doing, just need to execute a little bit better but a ton of speed this weekend. Long race tomorrow and a lot of things are going to happen and go on, but obviously we have the speed to do it. We’ll see how it goes.”
Seven Fords, a pair of Chevrolets, and a single Toyota advanced to that 10-car final round.
Reigning series champion and Team Penske’s Joey Logano, along with Roush Fenway Keselowski’s Ryan Preece, will start from row two.
Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon, RFK’s Chris Buescher, Penske’s Austin Cindric, Wood Brothers Racing’s Josh Berry, Penske’s Ryan Blaney and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs (the only Toyota) rounded out the second-round qualifiers.
Defending race winner Tyler Reddick will roll off 26th in the 23XI Racing No. 45 Toyota. Championship points leader and Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron will start 16th on the 39-car grid.
NASCAR Cup Series
Starting Line Up by Row
Talladega Superspeedway
Jack Link's 500
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 4/26/2025 @ 12:18 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 38 Zane Smith TitleMax Ford 52.565 182.174
2 8 Kyle Busch Nicokick Chevrolet 52.697 181.718
Row 2: 3 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 52.700 181.708
4 60 Ryan Preece Kroger/Celsius Ford 52.700 181.708
Row 3: 5 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Chevrolet 52.736 181.584
6 17 Chris Buescher Travel Centers of America Ford 52.761 181.498
Row 4: 7 2 Austin Cindric Menards/Quaker State Ford 52.780 181.432
8 21 Josh Berry Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 52.795 181.381
Row 5: 9 12 Ryan Blaney Advance Auto Parts Ford 52.833 181.250
10 54 Ty Gibbs SAIA LTL Freight Toyota 52.951 180.846
Row 6: 11 20 Christopher Bell Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota 52.927 180.928
12 41 Cole Custer Haas/Andy's Ford 52.941 180.881
Row 7: 13 11 Denny Hamlin Progressive Toyota 52.983 180.737
14 71 Michael McDowell GUNK Chevrolet 52.991 180.710
Row 8: 15 34 Todd Gilliland Love's Travel Stops Ford 52.995 180.696
16 24 William Byron Valvoline Chevrolet 53.028 180.584
Row 9: 17 19 Chase Briscoe Bass Pro Shops Toyota 53.061 180.472
18 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 53.083 180.397
Row 10: 19 16 AJ Allmendinger Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet 53.084 180.393
20 23 Bubba Wallace Leidos Toyota 53.122 180.264
Row 11: 21 10 Ty Dillon Sea Best Chevrolet 53.123 180.261
22 6 Brad Keselowski BuildSubmarines.com Ford 53.139 180.207
Row 12: 23 35 Riley Herbst # Monster Energy Toyota 53.157 180.146
24 99 Daniel Suarez Wendy's Frosty Chevrolet 53.191 180.030
Row 13: 25 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 53.211 179.963
26 45 Tyler Reddick Xfinity Mobile Toyota 53.222 179.926
Row 14: 27 4 Noah Gragson Rural King Ford 53.264 179.784
28 77 Carson Hocevar Chili's Ride the 'Dente Chevrolet 53.298 179.669
Row 15: 29 42 John Hunter Nemechek Jack Link's Toyota 53.337 179.538
30 9 Chase Elliott Amazon Prime Video Chevrolet 53.345 179.511
Row 16: 31 62 Anthony Alfredo(i) Fortify Building Solutions Chevrolet 53.381 179.390
32 1 Ross Chastain Jockey Chevrolet 53.399 179.329
Row 17: 33 51 Cody Ware Arby's x AC Barbecue Sauce Ford 53.417 179.269
34 43 Erik Jones Massey Motor Freight Toyota 53.503 178.981
Row 18: 35 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. NOS Energy Chevrolet 53.534 178.877
36 88 Shane Van Gisbergen # Safety Culture Chevrolet 53.538 178.864
Row 19: 37 7 Justin Haley Gainbridge Chevrolet 53.563 178.780
38 78 BJ McLeod Pigeon Forge Racing Coaster Chevrolet 54.103 176.996
Row 20: 39 44 JJ Yeley Barnett Southern Corporation Chevrolet 55.671 172.011
Did Not Qualify: None.
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 18 0 Ford 12 0
Toyota 9 0
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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