Ty Gibbs Fastest in Pocono Cup Qualifying

NASCAR.COM

LONG POND, PA – RIS - Ty Gibbs was fastest in NASCAR Cup qualifying on Saturday.  Gibbs, driving the No. 54 Toyota owned by his grandfather, Joe Gibbs, won the pole with a lap averaging 170.031 mph around the 2.5-mile track.

"We were really fast. It was really fun," Gibbs said. "The car is really good. Hopefully we can go win tomorrow."

The 21-year-old Gibbs will line up first in the No. 54 JGR Toyota, equaling his best previous series qualifying effort at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. His lap of 170.039 mph around the 2.5-mile Pocono oval was .118 seconds faster than William Byron in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Three of the four JGR drivers advanced to the final round of qualifying. And it was an all-JGR second row, including Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 19 JGR Toyota and the track’s all-time winningest active driver, seven-time Pocono race winner Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 JGR Toyota.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s rookie Josh Berry and last week’s Chicago race winner, Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman, will take the green flag from the third row. 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, Spire Motorsports rookie Zane Smith and Team Penske’s Joey Logano round out the top-10 drivers who advanced to the final round of qualifying.

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, who are first and second in the Cup Series standings, will start 12th and 11th, respectively.

Reddick, who was fastest in practice, was second fastest to Truex in 10-lap consecutive speed. Hamlin, Truex, Bowman, Blaney and Logano are all past Pocono winners. Both Hamlin (2006) and Blaney (2017) earned their first career Cup Series wins at the “Tricky Triangle.”