AJ Allmendinger is surprise pole winner for Bristol Playoff race
BRISTOL, Tenn.—Qualifying in the first half of a 39-driver field, AJ Allmendinger stole the spotlight from the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff contenders who followed him around Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday afternoon.
Allmendinger toured the 0.533-mile concrete short track in 15.117 seconds (126.930 mph) to earn the top starting spot for Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race, the Round of 16 elimination event (7:30 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The lap held up against an onslaught of Playoff drivers. Ryan Blaney (126.905 mph) came closest with a lap just 0.003 seconds slower than Allmendinger’s. Austin Cindric, just 11 points above the current elimination line for the Round of 12, will start third after a lap at 126.804 mph), far better than his average Bristol starting spot of 21.4.
The Busch Light Pole Award was Allmendinger’s first of the season, first at Bristol and fifth of his career.
“We just had a really good practice,” said Allmendinger, driver of the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. “We had a solid race in the spring, so good notes to go off of, for sure. You never know. They were saying the (softer right-side) tires were going to be a little different, but our practice was really good.
“I was pretty happy with that lap… The tire doesn’t feel a ton different. You can feel the softness—the car kind of moves around on it—but it’s not a massive difference to me. We’ll see how it races (on Saturday), once you get 125 laps on it.”
Blaney said his No. 12 Team Penske Ford felt tight in the final two corners.
“I’m proud of our lap and proud to be starting on the front row,” said Blaney, the 2023 series champion. “I wish I could have had it back and I’m sure a lot of guys say that. I just got tight in (Turns) 3 and 4…
“I think our race car is really good, too, over the long haul, and I’m just looking forward to (Saturday) night. Hopefully, we can run a good 500 laps and keep up with the race track and see what we can do.”
Non-Playoff driver Ty Gibbs (126.720 mph) qualified fourth in the fastest Toyota, with six Playoff drivers behind him. Kyle Larson (126.670 mph), winner of the last two Cup Series races at Bristol was fifth, with Last week’s Gateway winner Denny Hamlin (126.312 mph) sixth fastest.
William Byron, Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell and Josh Berry will start sixth through 10th on the grid, respectively.
Berry is 16th in the Playoff standings, 45 points below the cut line for the Round of 12 and needing a victory to advance past the Round of 16. But Berry was fastest among the four drivers below the elimination line.
Alex Bowman, 35 points in arrears, qualified 15th. Austin Dillon, 11 points behind Cindric, will start 23rd. And Shane van Gisbergen, 15 points below the cut line, will start 28th.
Other Playoff drivers qualified as follows: Ross Chastain 13th, Tyler Reddick 14th, Chase Elliott 16th, Joey Logano 22nd and Chase Briscoe 31st.
NASCAR Cup Series
Starting Line Up by Row
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bass Pro Shops Night Race
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Friday, 9/12/2025 @ 06:34 PM Eastern
Driver Date Time Speed
Track Race Record: Kyle Larson 09/21/24 2:37:53 101.277
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
Row 1: 1 16 AJ Allmendinger Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet 15.117 126.930
2 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Menards/Sylvania Ford 15.120 126.905
Row 2: 3 2 Austin Cindric (P) Discount Tire Ford 15.132 126.804
4 54 Ty Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota 15.142 126.720
Row 3: 5 5 Kyle Larson (P) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 15.148 126.670
6 11 Denny Hamlin (P) King's Hawaiian Toyota 15.191 126.312
Row 4: 7 24 William Byron (P) Raptor Chevrolet 15.206 126.187
8 23 Bubba Wallace (P) Robinhood Toyota 15.208 126.170
Row 5: 9 20 Christopher Bell (P) DEWALT Toyota 15.214 126.121
10 21 Josh Berry (P) Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 15.214 126.121
Row 6: 11 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. NOS Energy Chevrolet 15.220 126.071
12 77 Carson Hocevar Delaware Life Chevrolet 15.222 126.054
Row 7: 13 1 Ross Chastain (P) Moose Fraternity Chevrolet 15.239 125.914
14 45 Tyler Reddick (P) Pinnacle Toyota 15.246 125.856
Row 8: 15 48 Alex Bowman (P) Ally Open Road Sweeps Chevrolet 15.258 125.757
16 9 Chase Elliott (P) NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 15.271 125.650
Row 9: 17 7 Justin Haley NationsGuard Chevrolet 15.272 125.642
18 6 Brad Keselowski Castrol/Travel Centers of America Ford 15.273 125.633
Row 10: 19 42 John Hunter Nemechek Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota 15.273 125.633
20 60 Ryan Preece Kroger/SToK Ford 15.281 125.568
Row 11: 21 17 Chris Buescher Body Guard Ford 15.290 125.494
22 22 Joey Logano (P) Shell Pennzoil Ford 15.298 125.428
Row 12: 23 3 Austin Dillon (P) Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Chevrolet 15.332 125.150
24 38 Zane Smith Long John Silver's Ford 15.344 125.052
Row 13: 25 71 Michael McDowell Gainbridge Chevrolet 15.361 124.914
26 41 Cole Custer HaasTooling.com Ford 15.375 124.800
Row 14: 27 43 Erik Jones Dollar Tree Toyota 15.388 124.695
28 88 Shane Van Gisbergen # (P) Wendy's Breakfast Baconator Chevrolet 15.396 124.630
Row 15: 29 35 Riley Herbst # Monster Energy Zero Sugar Toyota 15.397 124.622
30 4 Noah Gragson Rush Truck Centers Ford 15.402 124.581
Row 16: 31 19 Chase Briscoe (P) Bass Pro Shops Toyota 15.431 124.347
32 8 Kyle Busch Lucas Oil Chevrolet 15.432 124.339
Row 17: 33 33 Austin Hill(i) United Rentals Chevrolet 15.480 123.953
34 51 Cody Ware Arby's Classic Ford 15.600 123.000
Row 18: 35 99 Daniel Suarez Freeway Insurance Chevrolet 15.612 122.905
36 34 Todd Gilliland Love's Travel Stops Ford 15.631 122.756
Row 19: 37 10 Ty Dillon Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet 15.657 122.552
38 67 Corey Heim(i) Robinhood Toyota 15.673 122.427
Row 20: 39 66 Chad Finchum Barger Precast Ford 16.054 119.522
Did Not Qualify: None.
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 16 0 Ford 13 0
Toyota 10 0
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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