Race Weekend Central

Cole Custer Claims Pocono Green 250 Pole

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Cole Custer won the pole for Saturday’s Pocono Green 250 with a lap at 170.707 mph.  It is the third time that Custer has won pole on the track this year and the fifth time that he will start on pole (qualifying in Atlanta and Las Vegas were both rained out).

“Our FIMS Mustang has been really good, it’s just a matter of making [the car] good on the long run and not getting too tight,” Custer told Frontstretch after the session.  “I think track position’s going to be big today.  A lot of strategies probably going to happen that can get you in clean air.  Having the right strategy is going to be key.”

Custer just squeaked out the pole by a mere eight-thousandths of a second over Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell.  Team Penske’s Austin Cindric will start third.  JR Motorsports’ Michael Annett was fourth, while Ryan Sieg will start fifth.

Points leader Tyler Reddick qualified sixth but will have to start at the rear due to a transmission failure during practice on Friday.  Brandon Jones was seventh, followed by JRM teammates Ryan Preece and Justin AllgaierJeffrey Earnhardt will start 10th.

The uphill battle for GMS Racing’s John Hunter Nemechek continued Saturday morning.  After crashing his primary car Friday, he had to qualify with little to no time on his car.  His speed of 164.258 mph was only good enough for the 23rd starting spot behind a number of mid-pack teams, however, he will start in the rear after unloading a backup car.

XFINITY SERIES POCONO GREEN 250 STARTING LINEUP

The Pocono Green 250 at Pocono Raceway is scheduled to go green shortly after 1 p.m. today.  Coverage will begin at 12:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.

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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