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Ryan Blaney beats Josh Berry to NASCAR Cup pole at Bristol

Blaney, who was fastest in practice and in the first round of qualifying, backed it up with an average lap speed of 124.954 mph in the final round to earn his first pole since the 2022 season.

The reigning series champion’s most recent pole came at Richmond in April 2022. It’s the 10th pole of his career.

“I’m proud of this whole group. Our Ford Mustang was fast all day,” said Blaney, who ran just one qualifying lap in the first round. “We were really good in Round 1, made some adjustments for the second round.

“The track kind of caught everybody by surprise, honestly. The time fall-off, the grip loss behind the wheel was incredible. It was huge. So, it was like who can not mess up a lap and still put a decent time down.

“It was fun working through it. I wish I could even do it over again and make our car go better because I think there was still some more out there.”

Rookie Josh Berry ended up a surprising second (124.792 mph) while Denny Hamlin was third (124.178 mph). Joey Logano and Chase Elliott rounded out the top five.

Completing the top 10 starting lineup are Chase Briscoe, Michael McDowell, William Byron, Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson, who got loose during his final round qualifying attempt and nearly spun out.

Round 1 / Group B

Hamlin and Briscoe tied for the fastest lap in Group B (126.528 mph) with Hamlin gaining the position based on points.

Larson ended up third fastest (126.162 mph) and was one of just a handful of drivers to go quicker on their second lap.

Also advancing to the final round were Elliott and Berry.

“We lost a lot of grip really quick in practice. Luckily, we were able to get a lap fast enough to make it to the second round,” Berry said.

Among those who failed to move on were Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski, Ty Gibbs and Tyler Reddick.

CLA DRIVER # MANUFACTURER LAPS TIME INTERVAL MPH
1 C. BriscoeSTEWART-HAAS RACING 14 Ford 1

15.165

  126.528
2 D. HamlinJOE GIBBS RACING 11 Toyota 1

+0.000

15.165

0.000 126.528
3 K. LarsonHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 5 Chevrolet 2

+0.044

15.209

0.044 126.162
4 C. ElliottHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 9 Chevrolet 2

+0.048

15.213

0.004 126.129
5 J. BerrySTEWART-HAAS RACING 4 Ford 1

+0.132

15.297

0.084 125.436
6 M. Truex JrJOE GIBBS RACING 19 Toyota 2

+0.170

15.335

0.038 125.126
7 H. BurtonWOOD BROTHERS RACING 21 Ford 2

+0.188

15.353

0.018 124.979
8 E. JonesLEGACY MOTOR CLUB 43 Toyota 2

+0.194

15.359

0.006 124.930
9 B. KeselowskiRFK RACING 6 Ford 1

+0.217

15.382

0.023 124.743
10
T. GibbsJOE GIBBS RACING
54 Toyota 2

+0.234

15.399

0.017 124.605
11 A. CindricTEAM PENSKE 2 Ford 2

+0.257

15.422

0.023 124.420
12 T. Reddick23XI RACING 45 Toyota 2

+0.303

15.468

0.046 124.050
13 R. PreeceSTEWART-HAAS RACING 41 Ford 2

+0.309

15.474

0.006 124.002
14 R. Stenhouse JrJTG DAUGHERTY RACING 47 Chevrolet 2

+0.323

15.488

0.014 123.889
15 A. BowmanHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 48 Chevrolet 2

+0.340

15.505

0.017 123.754
16 A. DillonRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING 3 Chevrolet 2

+0.369

15.534

0.029 123.523
17 K. GralaRICK WARE RACING 15 Ford 2

+0.529

15.694

0.160 122.263
18
C. HocevarSPIRE MOTORSPORTS
77 Chevrolet 1

+0.681

15.846

0.152 121.090

Round 1 / Group A

Blaney, who was fastest in Saturday’s practice, continued his quick pace in the first round of qualifying, leading the way at 126.787 mph.

Wallace was second quick (125.740 mph) while McDowell was third (124.727 mph).

Also advancing to the final round were Logano and Byron.

Among those who failed to move on: Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch, Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain.

Both Chris Buescher and Chastain got extremely loose during their qualifying laps, but they were able to recover before hitting the wall. The bobble proved costly, and both drivers will start Sunday's race from outside the top-30.

CLA DRIVER # MANUFACTURER LAPS TIME INTERVAL MPH
1 R. BlaneyTEAM PENSKE 12 Ford 1

15.134

  126.787
2 B. Wallace23XI RACING 23 Toyota 2

+0.126

15.260

0.126 125.740
3 M. McDowellFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS 34 Ford 2

+0.250

15.384

0.124 124.727
4 J. LoganoTEAM PENSKE 22 Ford 2

+0.253

15.387

0.003 124.703
5 W. ByronHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 24 Chevrolet 2

+0.271

15.405

0.018 124.557
6 C. BellJOE GIBBS RACING 20 Toyota 2

+0.280

15.414

0.009 124.484
7 K. BuschRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING 8 Chevrolet 2

+0.303

15.437

0.023 124.299
8
Z. SmithSPIRE MOTORSPORTS
71 Chevrolet 2

+0.356

15.490

0.053 123.873
9 C. LajoieSPIRE MOTORSPORTS 7 Chevrolet 2

+0.362

15.496

0.006 123.826
10 D. HemricKAULIG RACING 31 Chevrolet 2

+0.441

15.575

0.079 123.197
11 N. GragsonSTEWART-HAAS RACING 10 Ford 2

+0.452

15.586

0.011 123.110
12 T. GillilandFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS 38 Ford 2

+0.511

15.645

0.059 122.646
13 J. NemechekLEGACY MOTOR CLUB 42 Toyota 2

+0.529

15.663

0.018 122.505
14 D. SuarezTRACKHOUSE RACING 99 Chevrolet 2

+0.622

15.756

0.093 121.782
15 A. AllmendingerKAULIG RACING 16 Chevrolet 2

+0.714

15.848

0.092 121.075
16 J. HaleyRICK WARE RACING 51 Ford 2

+0.782

15.916

0.068 120.558
17 C. BuescherRFK RACING 17 Ford 2

+0.944

16.078

0.162 119.343
18 R. ChastainTRACKHOUSE RACING 1 Chevrolet 2

+0.962

16.096

0.018 119.210
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