Richard Childress Racing once again brought the fastest cars to Talladega Superspeedway.
Jesse Love took the pole for the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ United Rentals 250 Saturday (Oct. 5) with a speed of 182.129 mph. It is the fifth pole of his rookie season, four of which have come at drafting-style tracks.
Love’s RCR teammate Austin Hill joined him for front-row honors with a speed of 181.77 mph. Hill and Love have combined to start on the pole in the last four races at Talladega while RCR has started on the front row in the last five Talladega races.
Chandler Smith was the best of the rest behind the two RCR Chevrolets, qualifying third for Joe Gibbs Racing. Smith’s teammate Sheldon Creed will start fourth alongside the No. 81 Toyota. AJ Allmendinger completed the top five.
Parker Kligerman, Riley Herbst, Shane van Gisbergen, Aric Almirola and Cole Custer rounded out the top 10.
Almirola, last week’s winner at Kansas Speedway, will drop to the rear of the field and have to make a pass-through penalty on lap one after a windshield violation was found on his No. 20 Toyota.
Of the remaining playoff drivers, the three JR Motorsports drivers of Sam Mayer, Justin Allgaier and Sammy Smith will roll off 12th, 14th and 27th, respectively.
Caesar Bacarella was the only driver not to set a qualifying time after a motor failure ended his run early.
The maximum field size of 38 was entered for the second Xfinity race of the season at Talladega, meaning all cars that entered will race today.
United Rentals 250 Qualifying Results
Round two of the Xfinity Series Round of 12 at Talladega will begin today at 4 p.m. ET with broadcasting provided by The CW.
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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