Michael McDowell earns Talladega NASCAR Cup pole for Chevrolet and Spire

With fingers out the window in try to dam the air and acquire no matter velocity they might, a full subject of 40 NASCAR Cup drivers took on Talladega Superspeedway in Saturday’s qualifying session.

Ultimately, Michael McDowell drove the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet to pole place with a quick lap of 52.481s. That is McDowell’s eighth profession pole, and all of them have come within the final two years for the veteran driver. That is additionally the third time within the final 4 Talladega races the place McDowell has earned pole place, doing so with two totally different race groups.

“Oh it issues, for positive,” smiled McDowell as he and his crew celebrated the pole place. “It is one thing we have been working actually onerous at. Simply getting extra velocity in our superspeedway vehicles. Actually proud to have Carolina Dealing with on the automobile for his or her debut race with us. To get a pole is superior. I feel every part went proper. The cloud did come, the wind hit excellent, however all people again at Hendrick Engines store — thanks guys a lot. They have been working actually onerous.

“It is no secret that the Fords have been kicking our butts at these sorts of locations, and we really feel like we had some areas the place we wanted to realize. Felt like we gained them, and sitting right here with a pole is superior. Hats off to everybody at Chevy and Spire Motorsports. It is not a win however we’ll take it.”

Michael McDowell, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

Picture by: Chris Graythen – Getty Pictures

Chase Briscoe will begin second, main all playoff drivers. Kyle Busch was third, Austin Cindric fourth, Ryan Preece fifth, Josh Berry sixth, Christopher Bell seventh, Ryan Blaney eighth, Riley Herbst ninth, and Bubba Wallace tenth.

The pole spherical of qualifying took the highest ten from Spherical 1 and despatched them out from slowest to quickest. Wallace was the primary driver out on monitor, lapping NASCAR’s largest oval in 52.694s, however he did not maintain the provisional pole for very lengthy.

Bell was the following driver out and instantly jumped to P1 in a development that continued. McDowell was the primary driver to interrupt into the 52.4s, placing Chevrolet on prime late within the session.

Herbst, who was second within the first spherical, was not in a position to repeat it within the pole spherical as he was ninth out of ten drivers. Regardless of that, it is nonetheless the perfect qualifying effort for that No. 35 this 12 months.

Briscoe led all drivers in Spherical 1 and has gained extra poles than every other Cup driver this 12 months, however even he could not unseat McDowell. He obtained inside 0.019s of McDowell, however needed to accept the surface of the entrance row.

Spherical 1

Briscoe topped the primary spherical with a quick lap of 52.529s, besting Herbst in a Toyota 1-2. 4 Toyotas ended up advancing, joined by 4 Fords and two Chevrolets.

Wallace was the ultimate driver to maneuver ahead within the qualifying session, beating Alex Bowman and the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet by simply 0.019s.

Together with Briscoe, Blaney and Bell had been the one different playoff drivers to advance into the second spherical of qualifying.

William Byron, who’s trying to rebound from a weird pit entry collision at Las Vegas, will begin thirteenth. Joey Logano, who has three wins at Talladega and is making an attempt to defend his 2024 Cup title, will begin sixteenth. Denny Hamlin, who locked himself into the Championship 4 with an emotional sixtieth profession win final weekend, certified seventeenth.

The slowest playoff drivers each belonged to Hendrick Motorsports with Kyle Larson nineteenth and Chase Elliott twenty fifth.

71

Chevrolet
1

182.466

19

Toyota
1

0.019
182.400

8

Chevrolet
1

0.058
182.199

2

Ford
1

0.005
182.181

60

Ford
1

0.019
182.116

J. Berry Wooden Brothers Racing