Alex Bowman continued his strong start to the NASCAR Cup Series postseason by winning the pole for Saturday night’s elimination race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Bowman, the last driver to take time on the final lap of single-car qualifying, clocked 126.720 mph (15.142 s) to top the standings. It is Bowman’s first pole of the season and fifth of his career. It is also his first at Bristol.
“I thought we struggled a little bit in practice, more than I expected, but then I had a lot of grip in qualifying,” said Bowman. “I was a little bit too tight and it was one of those situations where you do a lap and you think ‘it’s going to be really good or really slow’ because if you’re tight you’re going to slow down until you can turn. Obviously I felt pretty good after the first lap and was grateful to start up front and qualify well.
“Qualification has been our greatest strength for years. Since it is a cut-off race, it is definitely important to start at the front.”
Bowman goes into the Bristol night race with a 41-point lead. He leads all playoff drivers in stage points earned in the first two postseason races (28).
Kyle Larson will be on the front row alongside his Hendrick Motorsports teammate and qualified second at 126.378 mph.
William Byron completed a one-two-three finish for Hendrick Motorsports, finishing third at 126.695 mph.
Martin Truex Jr. qualified fourth at 126.220 mph, Chase Briscoe fifth at 126.486 mph and Christopher Bell sixth at 125.889 mph.
Carson Hocevar was the first non-playoff driver in the top 10, finishing seventh at 126.096 mph.
Denny Hamlin qualified eighth at 125.666 mph, followed by non-playoff driver Corey LaJoie in ninth at 125.166 mph. Chase Elliott rounded out the top 10 at 125.248 mph.
Hamlin is the defending champion of the night race in Bristol.
Eight playoff drivers qualified outside the top 10: Ty Gibbs, 13th; Tyler Reddick, 15th; Joey Logano, 20th; Ryan Blaney, 22nd and Brad Keselowski, 23rd.
Austin Cindric qualified 27th, Harrison Burton 34th and Daniel Suarez 35th.
The four playoff drivers below the cutline on Saturday night are Hamlin, Keselowski, Truex and Burton.
There are 37 drivers registered in Bristol.
NEXT: Bass Pro Shops Night Race, Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET (US).
RESULTS
