Race Weekend Central

Blake Koch Swipes First XFINITY Pole at Talladega

The NASCAR XFINITY Series qualified at the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, May 6 for the Sparks Energy 300 later Saturday afternoon.

Blake Koch set the fastest lap in the 41-car first round, at 182.522 MPH, followed by Kasey Kahne, 0.033 seconds behind. Joey Logano (182.327 MPH), Brandon Jones (182.116 MPH), and Brennan Poole (182.029 MPH) rounded out the top five in the first round. Daniel Hemric, Ryan Reed, Erik Jones, Ben Kennedy, Justin Allgaier, Ty Dillon, and William Byron also made the 12-car final round. BJ McLeod was the only driver to fail to make the field. He encountered a transmission issue before he was able to complete a lap.

Koch took home the pole position, his first in the Xfinity Series, with a final-round speed of 183.490 MPH. Once again, he was followed by outside pole winner Kahne, who ran over 0.1 seconds behind. Hemric (182.431 MPH), Kennedy (182.424 MPH), and Brandon Jones (182.299 MPH) rounded out the top five. Brennan Poole completed a lap, but wasn’t able to go all-out because of an overheating issue.

Koch and the rest of the field will fight to win the Sparks Energy 300 at Talladega Superspeedway on FOX at 1 ET on Saturday May 6.
Full Results | Starting Lineup

About the author

Matteo Marcheschi is a 17-year-old race fan from the Chicago, Illinois, area. He is also a photographer and an amateur meteorologist.

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