BRISTOL, Tenn. — AJ Allmendinger collected his first Cup pole in a decade to earn the No. 1 starting spot in Saturday night’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Allmendinger won the pole with a lap of 126.930 mph to earn his first Cup pole since August 2015 at Watkins Glen. He also collected his first front-row starting spot for a Bristol Cup race since March 2012.
This is the second career Cup pole for Kaulig Racing.
“I know it’s Friday night qualifying and at the end of the day it doesn’t pay any points or money,” Allmendinger said, “but it’s small victories like this for our race team that’s continually trying to grow. … Days like today are important to me as well because it proves that I can be here.”
Ryan Blaney (126.905 mph) will start second. Austin Cindric, who holds the final transfer spot to the next round of the playoffs, qualified third with a lap of 126.804 mph.
Cindric had not started in the top 20 in the last four Bristol races and that was a focus entering this weekend.
“Honestly, I think my car is probably the best driving car I’ve had at Bristol with the Next Gen car,” Cindric said. “Proud of the guys for making adjustments and we’ve been able to creep up on this place. It’s not been the easiest place for our company.”
The first-round finale will cut the playoff field from 16 drivers to 12.
Ty Gibbs (126.720 mph) will start fourth. Kyle Larson, who has won the last two Bristol races and led 873 of 1,000 laps in those events, will start fifth after a qualifying lap of 126.670 mph.
Denny Hamlin, coming off his victory last weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway, qualified sixth with a lap of 126.312 mph. It is his 12th consecutive top-10 start at Bristol.
Playoff drivers took eight of the top 10 spots in the starting lineup. Only one of the four drivers below the cutline entering Saturday night’s race will start in the top 10. Josh Berry, who all but needs to win to advance, qualified ninth.
Austin Dillon, who is 11 points below the cutline, will start 23rd. Shane van Gisbergen, who is 15 points below the cutline, qualified 28th. Alex Bowman, who is 35 points below the cutline, qualified 15th.
Saturday’s race will air on USA Network. Pre-race coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET.
