Coming off a great run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Jesse Love continued to showcase Richard Childress Racing’s NASCAR Xfinity Series prowess on the superspeedways, claiming his fourth pole of 2025.
The Bay Area native put down a speed of 182.035 mph as he outlasted a whole host of Chevrolets to lead the field to green for the United Rentals 250 at Talladega Superspeedway Saturday (Oct. 18).
Love beat out William Sawalich late to win the pole after it looked like the Joe Gibbs Racing driver broke up the bow tie brigade.
Chevrolet locked out the next six positions, with Christian Eckes, Carson Kvapil and spring winner Austin Hill rounding out the top five.
Jeb Burton starts sixth, followed by Connor Zilisch. Justin Allgaier, Las Vegas winner Aric Almirola and Brandon Jones rounded out the top 10.
The rest of the playoff drivers roll off in the top 20. Sammy Smith starts 11th, just ahead of Sam Mayer in 13th. His Haas Factory Team teammate Sheldon Creed mustered a 16th-place effort.
Taylor Gray will start from the rear after being unable to put down a qualifying lap due to transmission troubles.
Xfinity Series Talladega Starting Lineup
The Xfinity Series playoff race at Talladega starts at 4 p.m. ET on the CW.
Thomas is in his first year covering NASCAR at Frontstretch. A Bay Area NASCAR fan for over 15+ years, he found his love for the sport through Jeff Gordon.
Thomas has enjoyed several trips to Sonoma Raceway in his time and currently covers college football in the Bay Area, also writing about the California Golden Bears.