Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brandon Jones won the pole for Saturday’s OneMain Financial 200 with a lap of 23.102 seconds (155.831 mph). It is Jones’ second career XFINITY Series pole.
“To be able to have raw speed here [at Dover], that’s pretty awesome,” Jones told FOX Sports’ Matt Yocum after his lap. “[The crew] is working so hard on this car and we ran great at Bristol. I feel like there are similarities between the two tracks, so I hope we can have a good afternoon and get after that $100,000.”
@BrandonJonesRac and the @XYOracleNetwork 19 team capture the pole @MonsterMile #Dash4Cash pic.twitter.com/bfn5MPGjyT
— Chillin' with Randy (@RandyFuller_) May 5, 2018
Jones’ time was three-hundredths of a second faster than teammate Noah Gragson. Richard Childress Racing’s Matt Tifft will start third, followed by JR Motorsports’ Elliott Sadler and Daniel Hemric.
Justin Allgaier had a good first half of his lap in Round No. 3, but slipped in turns three and four. He’ll start sixth, followed by Austin Cindric and Ryan Truex. Ty Majeski and Jeb Burton round out the top 10.
In Round No. 2, Cindric and Allgaier both turned lap of 23.183 seconds (155.286 mph) to lead the round. Jones was third fastest, followed by Tifft and Majeski.
In Round No. 1, Cindric was fastest with a lap of 22.999 seconds (156.529 mph). The time was half of a tenth of a second faster than Allgaier, followed by Hemric, Tifft and Gragson.
Once again, inspection woes were the big story in Round No. 1. Only 32 of the 41 cars entered managed to get through inspection and set times. Big names that failed to get on track included John Hunter Nemechek, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick and Cole Custer.
Mike Harmon also failed to make it through inspection. As a result, he failed to qualify for the race. Overnight, he took over behind the wheel of the No. 74 Dodge after Cody Ware crashed in the first practice session. The team then repaired the Dodge Challenger, but couldn’t get through the “Room of Doom.”‘
For those in the XFINITY Dash 4 Cash, Jones on pole is the highest qualified of the group. Sadler will start fourth, Allgaier is sixth and Ryan Sieg in 13th.
STARTING LINEUP FOR THE XFINITY SERIES ONEMAIN FINANCIAL 200
Due to potential adverse weather, NASCAR made the decision to move up the start of the race by one hour. As a result, coverage of the OneMain Financial 200 will begin with NASCAR RaceDay – XFINITY Edition at Noon ET on FOX Sports 1. Race coverage will follow at 12:30 p.m ET.
About the author
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.
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