Now, that is how you command a qualifying session. Chase Briscoe laid down a rapid average lap speed of 186.065 mph on Saturday to capture the Busch Light Pole Award for the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
It was a razor-thin margin at the front. Briscoe edged out Austin Hill by a mere 0.032 seconds, with Hill clocking an average lap speed of 185.949 mph. That stellar run puts Briscoe right at the head of the field when the green flag waves on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.
Right behind the front row, the Trackhouse Racing teammates locked down the next spots. Connor Zilisch put his machine third with a speed of 185.877 mph, and Shane van Gisbergen followed closely in fourth at 185.707 mph. Chris Buescher rounded out the top five by laying down a lap at 185.607 mph.
The rest of the top 10 featured Christopher Bell in sixth at 185.549 mph, Alex Bowman seventh at 185.506 mph, Ty Gibbs eighth at 185.301 mph, and Denny Hamlin ninth at 185.101 mph. Series points leader Kyle Larson rounded out the top 10 qualifiers with a speed of 184.822 mph.
Sunday's race is the seventh round of The Chase presented by Mobil 1, leaving just three races in the hunt for the NASCAR Cup Series championship. Ten of the 16 Chase drivers find themselves starting outside the top 10, facing varying degrees of work on Sunday. Daniel Suárez of Spire Motorsports leads that group as the best of them in 13th.
Further back, three-time Cup champion and three-time Talladega winner Joey Logano grabs 16th on the grid, just ahead of Chase competitors William Byron in 17th, Chase Elliott in 18th, and Ryan Preece in 19th. Bubba Wallace starts 25th, followed immediately by Carson Hocevar in 26th, Ryan Blaney in 27th, and Austin Cindric in 28th.
Unfortunately for Tyler Reddick, the winner of last week's race at Phoenix Raceway, qualifying did not go to plan. He ended up as the slowest qualifier among the Chase contenders and will start 33rd in the 40-car field.
Heading into Sunday with the championship on the line, Larson holds a five-point advantage over Bell in The Chase standings. Meanwhile, Briscoe sits minus-24, Hamlin minus-31, Blaney minus-40, Logano minus-44, and Reddick minus-56 as the pressure ramps up with only three races remaining.
