Brandon Jones won the pole for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway Saturday (Sept. 3), posting a fast lap of 165.453 mph.
Jones earned his fifth career pole and second of the season.
Noah Gragson just missed the top spot and will slot in second next to Jones on the front row. Richard Childress Racing teammates Sheldon Creed and Austin Hill make up the second row, while Jones’ Joe Gibbs Racing cohort Ty Gibbs rounds out the top-five qualifiers.
Justin Allgaier, who was quickest in practice, starts sixth, and Kyle Larson is seventh. Riley Herbst begins eighth, with Kaulig Racing colleagues Landon Cassill and Daniel Hemric completing the top-10 starting positions.
At least three drivers didn’t make a lap in qualifying: Christopher Bell, Anthony Alfredo and Chad Finchum. Bell’s engine over-revved when he went from third gear to second in practice, so the team changed engines. Denny Hamlin was originally slated to compete in this race but had some lingering soreness from a Daytona International Speedway crash and opted to sit out.
Finchum had a bent upper control arm after he made contact with the wall in the 20-minute practice session. As a result, Finchum did not qualify for the race.
Xfinity Qualifying Results from Darlington
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RACE WEEKEND CENTRAL: DARLINGTON
Joy joined Frontstretch in 2019 as a NASCAR DraftKings writer, expanding to news and iRacing coverage in 2020. She's currently an assistant editor and involved with photos, social media and news editing. A California native, Joy was raised watching motorsports and started watching NASCAR extensively in 2001. She earned her B.A. degree in Liberal Studies at California State University Bakersfield in 2010.