Ryan Blaney charges to NASCAR Cup pole position at Bristol
Photo by Bachman/Getty Images
BRISTOL, Tenn.—Ryan Blaney, seeking his first NASCAR Cup Series victory at Bristol Motor Speedway, got off to a flying start in Saturday’s time trials at the 0.533-mile high-banked concrete track.
Finding the speed he needed on the second of two qualifying laps, Blaney covered the distance in 15.101 seconds (127.064 mph) to edge Tyler Reddick for the top starting spot in Sunday’s Food City 500 (3 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Driving the No. 12 Team Penske Ford, Blaney was 0.023 seconds faster than Reddick (126.871 mph), who will try to win his fifth race of the season in the No.45 23XI Racing Toyota.
The Busch Light Pole Award was Blaney’s second at Bristol, his first of the season and the 13th of his career.
“I just kind of got free on Lap 1, landing into (Turn) 1,” said Blaney, who recovered through Turns 3 and 4 to set up his second lap. “Luckily, the rear tires came in better the second lap in (Turns) 1 and 2, and then 3 and 4 I thought was a really good corner…”
“Good start to the weekend. Now we’ve got to do 500 laps.”
Blaney has finished sixth or better in his last three starts at Bristol, but on Sunday, Cup Series drivers will be adjusting to both a new tire combination from Goodyear and a new short-track competition package featuring higher horsepower and lower downforce.
“I think just being ready for the track to change is the biggest thing for me,” Blaney said. “It’s going to run one way for a little bit, but it’s going to change eventually…”
“Tomorrow, we’re going to be everywhere, ‘cause the top (lane) is going to come in tomorrow, and that’s going to be completely different from what you need to run the bottom. It’s been a pretty decent place for us. Hopefully, tomorrow we can contend for the win.”
Chase Briscoe qualified third at 126.779 mph in his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Riley Herbst (125.679 mph), the third driver to make a qualifying run, was fourth, giving 23XI two of the top four starting positions.
Ty Gibbs, who led 201 laps in his last Bristol start, was fifth, followed by Ross Chastain in the fastest Chevrolet. Chris Buescher, three-time Bristol winner Kyle Larson, Austin Cindric and Carson Hocevar filled out positions seven through 10 on the grid.
The cars of Larson and Chastain—along with those of Cole Custer and Chad Finchum—failed pre-race inspection twice, resulting in the ejection of their respective car chiefs and loss of pit selection for Sunday’s race.
The No. 71 Chevrolet of Michael McDowell also failed twice, resulting in the ejection of an engineer and loss of pit selection.
Starting Line Up by Row
Bristol Motor Speedway
Food City 500
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 4/11/2026 @ 06:43 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 12 Ryan Blaney Discount Tire Ford 15.101 127.064
2 45 Tyler Reddick Comparion Insurance Toyota 15.124 126.871
Row 2: 3 19 Chase Briscoe Lance Toyota 15.135 126.779
4 35 Riley Herbst Monster Energy Zero Sugar Toyota 15.147 126.679
Row 3: 5 54 Ty Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota 15.164 126.537
6 1 Ross Chastain Busch Light Fishing Chevrolet 15.175 126.445
Row 4: 7 17 Chris Buescher Trimble Ford 15.190 126.320
8 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 15.192 126.303
Row 5: 9 2 Austin Cindric Menards/Tarkett Ford 15.200 126.237
10 77 Carson Hocevar Spectrum Chevrolet 15.201 126.229
Row 6: 11 11 Denny Hamlin National Debt Relief Toyota 15.225 126.030
12 23 Bubba Wallace WWE/Chumba Casino Toyota 15.231 125.980
Row 7: 13 7 Daniel Suarez NationsGuard Chevrolet 15.233 125.963
14 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 15.261 125.732
Row 8: 15 38 Zane Smith Aaron's Rent To Own Ford 15.277 125.601
16 4 Noah Gragson Long John Silver's Ford 15.279 125.584
Row 9: 17 60 Ryan Preece Kroger/Muscle Milk Ford 15.282 125.559
18 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 15.285 125.535
Row 10: 19 71 Michael McDowell Delaware Life Chevrolet 15.291 125.486
20 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 15.311 125.322
Row 11: 21 6 Brad Keselowski Consumer Cellular Ford 15.312 125.313
22 16 AJ Allmendinger Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet 15.323 125.224
Row 12: 23 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. NOS Energy Drink Chevrolet 15.331 125.158
24 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Long Beard XR 15.344 125.052
Row 13: 25 21 Josh Berry Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 15.364 124.889
26 88 Connor Zilisch # Roto-Rooter Chevrolet 15.368 124.857
Row 14: 27 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 15.368 124.857
28 43 Erik Jones AdventHealth Toyota 15.378 124.776
Row 15: 29 8 Kyle Busch BankOZK Chevrolet 15.389 124.686
30 41 Cole Custer HaasTooling.com Chevrolet 15.404 124.565
Row 16: 31 42 John Hunter Nemechek Dollar Tree Toyota 15.467 124.058
32 10 Ty Dillon Ohio Logistics Chevrolet 15.498 123.810
Row 17: 33 97 Shane Van Gisbergen WeatherTech Chevrolet 15.514 123.682
34 24 William Byron Valvoline Chevrolet 15.554 123.364
Row 18: 35 34 Todd Gilliland Love's Travel Stops Ford 15.593 123.055
36 51 Cody Ware Costa Oil Chevrolet 15.613 122.898
Row 19: 37 66 Chad Finchum(i) Brian King Roofing Ford 15.711 122.131
Did Not Qualify: None.
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 17 0 Ford 11 0
Toyota 9 0
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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