Almirola Fastest in NASCAR Cup Talladega Pole Qualifying

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TALLADEGA, AL – RIS – Aric Almirola led a dominant set of runs by Ford drivers to sit on the pole for Sunday’s playoff race at Talladega Super Speedway..  Ford drivers swept the top three spots and seven of the top 10 in qualifying for Sunday’s playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway.. 

Almirola earned the sixth pole of his career with a lap of 181.656 mph in Saturday’s qualifying session. SHR only qualified Kevin Harvick for this year’s playoffs and Harvick, who is retiring at the end of the season, was eliminated at the end of the first round.

. SHR came to Talladega with “Talladega Nights” paint schemes on the cars of Chase Briscoe and Ryan Preece, who have been in full character all week promoting the sponsorship.

Riley Herbst, who normally runs Xfinity races for SHR, had the fastest speed in initial qualifying in another Ford prepared by SHR, but entered by Front Row Motorsports this week. He  qualified sixth ahead of Austin Cindric of Team Penske.

William Byron, the only driver locked into the round of eight following his win last week at Texas, qualified eighth and was followed by fellow playoff drivers Bubba Wallace in a Toyota for 23XI and Ryan Blaney as all three Penske drivers qualified inside the top 10.

Reigning Cup champion Joey Logano will start second in a Team Penske Ford.  Chase Brisco will start third in another SHR Ford. The only Toyota in the top ten was Bubba Wallace in ninth.  Ryan Blaney in another Penske Ford will start 10th.

Unofficial starting lineup:
Pos, Driver, Car, Gap, Time, Speed
1) Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, ---, 52.715 sec, 181.656 mph
2) Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, -0.004 sec, 52.719, 181.642
3) Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Old Spice Ford, -0.009, 52.724, 181.625
4) Kyle Larson, No. 5 Valvoline/HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, -0.031, 52.746, 181.549
5) Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Solomon Plumbing Ford, -0.042, 52.757, 181.511
6) Riley Herbst, No. 36 Beast Unleashed White Haze Ford, -0.075, 52.79, 181.398
7) Austin Cindric, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford, -0.108, 52.823, 181.285
8) William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet, -0.211, 52.926, 180.932
9) Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Leidos Toyota, -0.219, 52.934, 180.905
10) Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford, -0.253, 52.968, 180.788
11) Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Busch Light Camo Ford, -0.277, 52.992, 180.707
12) Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Mavis Tires & Brakes Toyota, -0.306, 53.021, 180.608
13) Tyler Reddick, No. 45 McDonald's Toyota, -0.324, 53.039, 180.546
14) Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, -0.333, 53.048, 180.516
15) Christopher Bell, No. 20 DEWALT Electrical Solutions Toyota, -0.337, 53.052, 180.502
16) Martin Truex Jr, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, -0.358, 53.073, 180.431
17) Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Georgia Peanuts Ford, -0.37, 53.085, 180.39
18) Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, -0.385, 53.1, 180.339
19) Ryan Preece, No. 41 Wonder Bread Ford, -0.39, 53.105, 180.322
20) Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, -0.406, 53.121, 180.268
21) Harrison Burton, No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford, -0.413, 53.128, 180.244
22) Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, -0.414, 53.129, 180.241
23) Chase Elliott, No. 9 LLumar Chevrolet, -0.427, 53.142, 180.196
24) Chris Buescher, No. 17 BuildSubmarines.com Ford, -0.428, 53.143, 180.193
25) Kyle Busch, No. 8 X World Wallet Chevrolet, -0.501, 53.216, 179.946
26) Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet, -0.517, 53.232, 179.892
27) JJ Yeley, No. 51 Biohaven/Jacob Co. Ford, -0.527, 53.242, 179.858
28) Daniel Suárez, No. 99 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet, -0.551, 53.266, 179.777
29) Brennan Poole, No. 15 Finance Pro Plus Ford, -0.566, 53.281, 179.726
30) Justin Haley, No. 31 Morris-Shea Bridge Co.  Inc. Chevrolet, -0.569, 53.284, 179.716
31) AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Chevrolet, -0.626, 53.341, 179.524
32) Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, -0.65, 53.365, 179.443
33) Ty Dillon, No. 77 Ferris Commercial Mowers Chevrolet, -0.734, 53.449, 179.161
34) Chandler Smith, No. 13 Quick Tie Products  Inc. Chevrolet, -0.755, 53.47, 179.091
35) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, No. 47 Sara Lee Artesano Bakery Bread Chevrolet, -0.79, 53.505, 178.974
36) Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet, -1.016, 53.731, 178.221
37) BJ McLeod, No. 78 Gunk Chevrolet, -1.126, 53.841, 177.857
38) Carson Hocevar, No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Chevrolet, 52.715, ---, ---