The stars of the NASCAR Cup Series went faster than they ever have before at Nashville Superspeedway during Wilson County Convention and Visitors Bureau Qualifying on Saturday.
Chase Briscoe, driving the No. 19 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, set a Cup Series speed mark at NASCAR’s biggest concrete track with a lap of 164.395 mph (29.125 seconds) to earn the pole for Sunday’s Cracker Barrel 400.
“I thought I ran a decent lap but gave a little bit up,” said Briscoe, who earned his second-straight Cup Series pole and third of the season. “I thought there was more there. Obviously, a nice, clean lap. Track position is going to be really big tomorrow. Hopefully we can maintain and keep it out front.”
Briscoe’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin was second, followed by William Byron in third, Tyler Reddick in fourth and last week’s Coca-Cola 600 winner Ross Chastain in fifth.
“We’ll get a good pit box out of it,” Hamlin said. “It’s great to see Joe Gibbs Racing on the front row.”
Overall, 12 drivers topped the old speed record of 161.992 mph (29.557 seconds), set by Aric Almirola on June 20, 2021.
Before qualifying, Reddick, driving the No. 45 Toyota for 23XL Racing, headed the field in Saturday’s practice session, posting a lap of 161.337 mph (29.677 seconds).
Among other notables, defending NASCAR Cup Series champion and last year’s Nashville Cup race winner Joey Logano will start ninth and Josh Berry, from nearby Hendersonville, Tenn., will start 20th.
WILSON COUNTY CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU QUALIFYING RESULTS AND STARTING LINEUP FOR SUNDAY’S CRACKER BARREL 400:
- Chase Briscoe
- Denny Hamlin
- William Byron
- Tyler Reddick
- Ross Chastain
- Brad Keselowski
- Christopher Bell
- Michael McDowell
- Joey Logano
- Chris Buescher
- Chase Elliott
- Bubba Wallace
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Erik Jones
- Ryan Blaney
- Austin Cindric
- AJ Allmendinger
- Justin Haley
- Ryan Preece
- Josh Berry
- Austin Dillon
- Ty Gibbs
- Shane Van Gisbergen
- Alex Bowman
- Kyle Busch
- Carson Hocevar
- Zane Smith
- Kyle Larson
- Cole Custer
- Noah Gragson
- Ty Dillon
- Daniel Suarez
- Corey Heim
- Cody Ware
- Todd Gilliland
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Riley Herbst
- JJ Yeley
- Chad Finchum
RACE SCHEDULE
The remaining NASCAR Weekend schedule includes:
- Today: Tennessee Lottery 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race (6:30 p.m., The CW, PRN Radio)
- Sunday, June 1: Cracker Barrel 400 NASCAR Cup Series race (6 p.m., Amazon Prime, PRN Radio).
TICKETS
Call 866.RACE.TIX to discuss your options with an account representative, or visit NashvilleSuperspeedway.com.
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