Truex Jr., Keselowski Will Start on Front Row at Talladega

TALLADEGA, AL – Just 13 points to the good entering Sunday’s Round of 12 cutoff race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Martin Truex Jr. gave himself as much of a cushion as possible, winning the pole for the Hellman’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway during Saturday’s knockout qualifying session.

Seventh in the Chase standings, and 13 points ahead of Joey Logano and Austin Dillon, Truex covered the 2.66-mile distance in 49.508 seconds (193.423 mph) to claim the Coors Light Pole Award for Sunday’s race (2 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) that will trim the Chase field from 12 drivers to eight.

Starting Lineup

“It’s definitely cool,” said Truex, who has never won a restrictor-plate race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. “You come here, and you don’t really have a whole lot to say as a driver when it comes to qualifying, so obviously proud of the team and proud of everybody in Denver (Colorado) and proud of everybody at the race track for their efforts.

“Built a brand new car to come here, and it’s awesome to be the fastest guy in town. Excited about that, and obviously everybody at TRD (Toyota Racing Development) who builds the engines has done a great job too – it takes a lot to get a restrictor-plate pole, so excited for all those guys and really neat to lead Toyota to their 1,000th start (in NASCAR’s top three series combined). Hopefully, we’ll be able to get the victory when the day is over.”

Truex didn’t allow a pre-qualifying inspection issue to derail his effort. Before his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota rolled out onto the grid, NASCAR confiscated a non-conforming jack screw from the car and required the team to replace it with a legal part.

The pole was Truex’s first at Talladega, his fourth of the season and the 11th of his career. Truex was .015 seconds faster than four-time Talladega winner Brad Keselowski (193.365 mph), who will start on the outside of the front row.

Keselowski is 11th in the standings, seven points behind Logano and Dillon.

“It’s good to qualify up front,” Keselowski said. “I think it’s a good confidence boost. I feel like when we have cars that qualify well here, we race well. The Miller Lite Ford was really fast here in qualifying, and hopefully it will stay the same for Sunday.

“It’s been a good track for us, but past success is no guarantee. You have to go out and put the work in, and I think we’re ready to do just that.”

Chase drivers Matt Kenseth (193.189 mph) and Chase Elliott (193.166 mph) will start third and fourth, respectively. Elliott is 12th in the Chase standings, likely needing a victory in Sunday’s race to advance to the Round of 8.

“As we all know, qualifying here is all about the guys back in the shop preparing these cars,” Elliott said. “The Hendrick Engine shop gave me great speed, and the guys gave me an excellent car for tomorrow.

“Qualifying here at Talladega isn’t a make-or-break-you deal. I think it’s good. I think our car has decent speed, and hopefully that will show up on Sunday.”

Roush Fenway racing drivers Greg Biffle and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., both non-Chasers, will start from the third row after qualifying fifth and sixth, respectively.

Other Chase drivers qualified as follows: Kurt Busch (seventh), Denny Hamlin(eighth), Dillon (ninth), Carl Edwards (13th), Kyle Busch (14th), Joey Logano(16th), Jimmie Johnson (17th) and Kevin Harvick (22nd). Johnson and Harvick already have earned spots in the Round of 8 by virtue of their respective victories at Charlotte and Kansas, leaving six berths available to the remaining 10 drivers.

Reed Sorenson, who was required to make the field on the basis of qualifying time, posted an eyebrow-raising lap of 194.145 mph to lead the first round, a sizable .326 seconds faster than the next-fastest driver, Truex. Sorenson’s Premium Motorsports No. 55 Toyota faded considerably in the final round and will start 12th. David Gilliland failed to qualify for the 40-car field.

NASCAR will meet and discuss the non-conforming jack screw on Truex’s car during its weekly competition meeting, but Scott Miller, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, characterized the imposition of a points penalty that would affect the Chase standings as “unlikely.”

“I would say it would be unlikely, but it has to go through our process,” Miller said. “We don’t typically do that on a weekend, and because this is the playoffs, everybody has a heightened sense of everything.

“But this is really no different than things that we’ve done all year. We’ll treat this one like just like we’ve done all year long.”

Three Joe Gibbs Racing cars — those of Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Kenseth — were pulled from the qualifying line just before their speed attempts. NASCAR officials said that they were investigating a potential issue with the rear deck lid and quarter panel area. With those issues remedied behind the wall, all three were allowed to qualify.

by Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service