Smith claims first Cup pole at Talladega
Yesterday at 12:45 PM
Zane Smith is a NASCAR Cup Series pole winner for the first time after pacing both rounds of qualifying Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway.
The pole-winning lap in the final round was 182.174 mph (52.565s). It's the first pole for Smith in his 55th career start.
"I wish I could take a lot of the credit for it, but truthfully, man, a really fast FRM Ford," Smith said. "It's so cool. Man, a polesitter in the Cup Series — that's awesome. But a huge shoutout to all these guys, they've been doing an awesome job this year. A long race tomorrow, but a great starting spot. So, I'm super stoked for this."
Front Row Motorsports drivers have won six of the last eight poles on superspeedway-style racetracks. Smith also delivered the organization its third straight pole at Talladega Superspeedway.
Kyle Busch qualified second at 181.718 mph. Joey Logano qualified third at 181.708 mph and Ryan Preece qualified fourth at 181.708 mph. Austin Dillon completed the top five qualifiers at 181.584 mph.
Chris Buescher qualified sixth at 181.498 mph, Austin Cindric qualified seventh at 181.432 mph, and Josh Berry qualified eighth at 181.381 mph. Ryan Blaney qualified ninth at 181.250 mph.
Ty Gibbs rounded out the top 10. Gibbs clocked in at 180.846 mph.
William Byron, the Cup Series point leader, qualified 16th. Brad Keselowski qualified 22nd. Keselowski has the most wins at Talladega Superspeedway of active drivers (six).
Tyler Reddick, the defending race winner, qualified 26th.
Chase Elliott qualified 30th; Ross Chastain qualified 32nd; Erik Jones qualified 34th; Shane van Gisbergen qualified 36th; and Justin Haley qualified 37th.
There are 39 teams entered at Talladega Superspeedway. The Open teams are JJ Yeley (NY Racing Team), BJ McLeod (Live Fast Motorsports), and Anthony Alfredo (Beard Motorsports).
UP NEXT: Jack Link's 500 at 3pm ET Sunday.
