Alex Bowman Leads Hendrick Motorsports 1-2-3 Sweep in Qualifying from Bristol
An impressive start to the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will continue into Bristol Motor Speedway for Alex Bowman, who has scored the pole for Saturday's Bass Pro Shops Night Race, the first elimination race of the post-season.
Bowman was able to outrun his Hendrick Motorsports teammates in both rounds of qualifying to secure his fifth career NASCAR Cup Series pole position, and his first on a racetrack shorter than one mile in length. It's the first pole for the Tucson, Arizona native not at Daytona since 2016.
Posting a lap of 15.142 seconds (126.720mph) in the second and final round of qualifying, Bowman edged out his teammate William Byron by 0.003 seconds, claiming the pole. Kyle Larson was the quickest of the drivers in Group A, awarding him a runner-up starting position.
William Byron will start Saturday's 500-lap contest from third-place, with fellow post-season drivers Martin Truex, Jr. and Chase Briscoe starting fourth and fifth. Christopher Bell, rookie Carson Hocevar, Denny Hamlin, Corey LaJoie, and Chase Elliott completed the top-10 in Friday's qualifying session.
With seventh and ninth-place starts for Hocevar and LaJoie, Spire Motorsports places two drivers in the final round of qualifying for the first-time in its NASCAR Cup Series tenure. Just three weeks ago, Hocevar secured the best-ever start for the team, starting on the front row at Darlington.
Both @CoreyLaJoie (#7) and @CarsonHocevar (#77) will advance to the final round of qualifying for Saturday's race at Bristol.
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) September 20, 2024
It's the first time @SpireMotorsport has had multiple top-10 starters in a NASCAR Cup Series event.#NASCAR | 📸: @tysongifford91 pic.twitter.com/0r8RCKZ8kb
Unlike last weekend's topsy-turvy event at Watkins Glen, eight NASCAR Cup Series Playoff drivers advance to the final round of qualifying. Those post-season drivers who failed to do so, though, are scattered throughout the back two-thirds of the field.
RELATED: Starting Lineup -- Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol
After pacing the sole NASCAR Cup Series practice session, Ty Gibbs will start Saturday's event in 13th-place. Tyler Reddick will start from 15th, with Joey Logano 20th, Ryan Blaney 22nd, Brad Keselowski 23rd, Austin Cindric 27th, Harrison Burton 34th, and Daniel Suarez 35th.
Team Penske, the winner of the last two NASCAR Cup Series championships, struggled dramatically in qualifying from Bristol Motor Speedway, with no vehicle starting better than 20th in Saturday's 500-lap event.
Josh Bilicki, driving the No. 66 Arby's Ford Mustang Dark Horse, will start from the back of the pack on Saturday, after posting the slowest qualifying time. The entire 37-driver field managed to qualify within one second of the polesitter Alex Bowman.
The Bass Pro Shops Night Race will take place on Saturday, September 21 at 7:00pm ET. Coverage of the event will be on USA Network, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
