Party Crasher: ‘Dinger Earns Shock Bristol Night Race Pole
A.J. Allmendinger with the Busch Light Pole Award at Bristol Motor Speedway. (Declan Wayman/Motorsports Hotspot photo)
BRISTOL, Tenn. – In a Thunder Valley shocker, A.J. Allmendinger and Kaulig Racing spoiled the qualifying party for all 16 NASCAR Cup Series playoff drivers Friday evening at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Allmendinger toured the .533-mile concrete high banks in 15.117 seconds (126.930 mph) with the No. 16 Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet to earn his first Busch Light Pole Award in a decade and the fifth of his career at stock car racing’s highest level.
Prior to this weekend, the 43-year-old from Los Gatos, Calif., last topped Cup Series time trials at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Int’l in 2015.
“I closed my eyes on both [laps], so I’m not really sure how that happened!” joked Allmendinger, who has earned Cup Series poles for four different organizations. “Man, our car in practice was pretty good, but this place is so close to qualify at. The first lap she stuck, and I looked down at the [digital] dash and was like, ‘That’s a pretty good lap, so I’m going to try for more on the second.’
“I know it’s just qualifying and we’ve got 500 laps still to run around this place, but to get a pole at Bristol … that’s pretty awesome!” he added, boasting an ear-to-ear grin. “Every old dog still has its day!”
Starting alongside Allmendinger on the front row for Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race is 2023 Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney, whose No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Team Penske went 15.120 seconds (126.905 mph) and missed the top spot by just three thousandths (.003 seconds).
Blaney’s teammate Austin Cindric rolls from third next to Ty Gibbs, with two-time defending Bristol Cup Series winner Kyle Larson filling out the top five starters.
Sixth through 10th are playoff contenders Denny Hamlin, regular-season champion William Byron, Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell, and Josh Berry.
Other postseason drivers lining up deeper in the field include Ross Chastain (13th), Tyler Reddick (14th), Alex Bowman (15th), Chase Elliott (16th), Joey Logano (22nd), Austin Dillon (23rd), Shane van Gisbergen (28th), and Chase Briscoe (31st).
With 39 cars entered, no drivers failed to qualify at The Last Great Colosseum.
Broadcast coverage of Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race airs at 7:30 p.m. ET, live on USA, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
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