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.
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