On Friday (May 12), John Hunter Nemechek won his second career NASCAR Xfinity Series pole at Darlington Raceway in his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota. Nemechek won the pole with a speed of 166.062 mph. He beat his teammate and winner of the Xfinity Series race at Dover Motor Speedway, Ryan Truex who posted a speed of 165.275 mph.
Kyle Larson went out early in qualifying and looked primed to take the pole in his Kaulig Racing No. 10. He ended up in third clocking in at 165.081 mph.
Sam Mayer tapped the wall in turn three but still kept his car going straight. He qualified fastest out of the JR Motorsports camp in fourth. Stewart-Haas Racing driver Cole Custer owned Ford’s fastest qualifying lap in fifth.
Chandler Smith, Sheldon Creed, Parker Retzlaff, Sammy Smith and Austin Hill rounded out the top 10.
Sage Karam, who was fifth to go out, hit the wall during his qualifying lap and hit the wall going into turns three and four. He rode the wall and actually put in the top spot afterward. Karam will roll off in the 22nd position.
Brennan Poole, who placed his car sixth in practice, hit the wall in turn one on his qualifying lap. He will line up in 35th place.
Garrett Smithley, Chad Finchum and Dawson Cram are the three drivers who did not qualify for Saturday’s race.
Xfinity Starting Lineup for Darlington
The Shriners Children’s 200 will run on May 13 at 1:30 p.m. ET. TV coverage will be provided by FOX.
Wyatt Watson has followed motorsports closely since 2007. He joined Frontstretch as a journalist in February 2023 after serving in the United States Navy for five years as an Electronic Technician Navigation working on submarines. Wyatt is one of Frontstretch's primary IndyCar correspondents, providing exclusive video content on site. He hosts Frontstretch's Through the Gears podcast and occasionally The Pit Straight.You can find Wyatt's written work in columns such as Friday Faceoff and 2-Headed Monsteras well as exclusive IndyCar features. Wyatt also contributes to Frontstretch's social media team, posting unique and engaging content for Frontstretch.
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