Kyle Busch won his first pole of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season at Dover Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon (April 27) with a fastest lap of 162.191 mph.
This will be Busch’s second time starting first at Dover in a row, after he started first last year when qualifying was rained out. It’s the second Dover pole of his career and his first since World Wide Technology Raceway last year. This is also the 34th NASCAR Cup Series pole of his career.
Ryan Blaney will share the front row with the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. The No. 12 Team Penske Ford fell short with a speed of 161.951 mph.
William Byron was fastest of the Hendrick Motorsports camp, qualifying third. Last week’s winner at Talladega Superspeedway Tyler Reddick was the fastest Toyota in fourth, and Noah Gragson completed the top five.
Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Michael McDowell, Alex Bowman and AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top 10.
Christopher Bell spun during his qualifying attempt, hitting the rear of his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota Camry square with the turn 3 wall and minimizing damage. He did not record a time and will start at the back.
Zane Smith went around in his No 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet and made significant contact the wall after having a tire failure during practice. He did not make a lap.
Kaz Grala’s No. 15 for Rick Ware Racing made heavy impact with the outside wall coming off of turn 4 in Group B of practice, destroying the front end of the car. Grala was on the track on one set of tires for 27 laps. The 25-year-old was unable to put down a lap in qualifying.
The Cup Series will take on the Monster Mile Sunday, April 28, at 2 p.m. ET. Television coverage will be provided by FOX Sports 1.
Click here for the starting lineup.
About the author
Wyatt Watson has followed NASCAR closely since 2007. He joined Frontstretchas a journalist in February 2023 after serving in the United States Navy for five years as an Electronic Technician Navigation working on submarines. Wyatt writes breaking NASCAR news and contributes to columns such as Friday Faceoff and 2-Headed Monster. Wyatt also contributes to Frontstretch's social media and serves as an at-track reporter, collecting exclusive content for Frontstretch.
Wyatt Watson can be found on Twitter @WyattGametime
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Kyle Busch won the pole with a time of 22.196 seconds at 162.191 mph edging out Ryan Blaney’s 22.229 seconds at 161.951 mph, a margin of .038 seconds