By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service
TALLADEGA, Ala. – Front Row Motorsports and driver Michael McDowell continued a superspeedway qualifying mastery with McDowell claiming the pole position for Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at the Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
McDowell’s No. 34 FRM Ford turned a lap of 183.063 mph in Saturday’s final qualifying session around the 2.66-mile high banks, besting Austin Cindric’s lap in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford by less than two-tenths of a second.
It was McDowell’s sixth pole position of his career – all six coming this year – and five of them consecutively on superspeedways, also including a sweep at both Talladega and Atlanta Motor Speedway as well as the top starting position at Daytona International Speedway this summer.
“We knew coming here we’d have a shot at the pole and it’s a priority for us, so you feel that pressure of not making any mistakes and screwing it up,’’ McDowell said. “I’m really proud of the effort. We sort of had this in mind that today would be a day to come here and get the rest of the superspeedways locked down.’’
Cindric, a Playoff contender and the 2022 Daytona 500 winner, smiled following qualifying and offered, “His right foot must be heavier than mine.’’
Ford drivers claimed six of the top-10 starting positions Saturday. McDowell’s teammate Todd Gilliland was third fastest in the No. 38 FRM Ford Mustang. Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch, a two-time Talladega winner, was fourth fastest in the No. 8 RCR Chevrolet.
Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano were fifth and sixth fastest followed by RCR’s Austin Dillon in the No. 3 Chevy. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin was the only Toyota to make the 10-car final round and he’ll roll off sixth in the No. 11 JGR Supra. Wood Brothers Racing’s Harrison Burton and Kaulig Racng’s Daniel Hemric rounded out the fast-10.
The reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Blaney is the defending race winner and has three Talladega trophies to his credit. 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick – the regular season champion – will roll off 14th.
Cindric, Blaney, Logano and Hamlin are all current Playoff drivers, as are Blaney and Reddick. Hendrick teammates Chase Elliott, a two-time Talladega winner and Kyle Larson will start 11th and 12th. Their teammate William Byron will roll off 16th.
Christopher Bell, who will start 21st, Alex Bowman (23rd), Daniel Suarez (31st) and Chase Briscoe (36th) round out the Playoff lineup.
NASCAR Cup Series Busch Light Pole Award – Michael McDowell (Driver, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford) –
NOTEBOOK
*TIME TO GO
23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick won the regular season championship by a single point over Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson posting a two-win regular season that included victories at Talladega this spring and Michigan this summer. He won a coveted 15-point Playoff bonus with that regular season title, but even so, the 28-year old Californian comes into this weekend’s race ranked ninth – four points below the cutoff line with two races remaining in this Round of 12.
Reddick insisted Saturday that qualifying and pit stall will be especially important this weekend as he races to become one of the eight drivers advancing to the next round. He’s had only a single top-10 in the four Playoff races and been 20th or worse in the other three. He sits ninth in the standings, four points behind former series champions, Chase Elliott and Joey Logano.
“I think for us, we kinda know what we need to do to get toward the front from the back during a green flag cycle, but we’ll just be ready for anything,’’ said Reddick, driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota. “You never know how the race is going to play out on the track, the pace of the field can determine what your options are. But we have a good understanding of what we need to do depending on what plays out on that strategy part of it.
“If we do our jobs we’ll be at the front of the field.’’
*BACK-TO-BACK
Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney said he was very optimistic about accomplishing a rare feat in the sport – earning back-to-back titles – something that hasn’t been done by a driver since Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson won five consecutively between 2006-10.
“I don’t know why you haven’t seen a repeat champion back-to-back since Jimmie when he won five in a row, I don’t know why,’’ Blaney said. “It’s tough to do. Teams are always getting smarter. It takes everything kind of perfect to go your way. The team has to execute the best they can and you have to have a little bit of fortune on your side to not be in any unfortunate circumstances through the playoffs, so I don’t know why.
“I look back and there have been plenty of teams good enough to win back-to-back and it just hasn’t happened. I think that just shows you how hard it is to do.
Blaney’s Team Penske organization has won the last two NASCAR Cup Series championships – with 2023 winner Joey Logano and Blaney
“I’m confident with our group and that’s not from a cocky or arrogant standpoint,’’ Blaney said. “I have faith in our group that we can do it and we’re good enough to where we can do it again, and I just have so much faith in our team and our guys. I’d like to, obviously. I think we’re in a good position. We just have to keep doing what we can and keep staying hungry. It’s funny, I think we’re all even hungrier for a second one than we were the first.
*RECORD PACE
Chase Elliott, a two-time Talladega winner, agrees with the general consensus that this weekend’s 500-miler on the sport’s biggest track is a real opportunity for anyone to win. There have been 17 different race winners to date this season with Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain adding his name to the list last Sunday at Kansas — and there are still six races remaining in the season.
“It does seem like we have a more consistent widespread number of winners yearly since we’ve had this car, so that’s been interesting to watch,’’ said Elliott, who is ranked seventh in the Playoff standings, only four points above the cutoff line with two races remaining in this round.
“And I think a lot of that has come down to just the aero-platform that we have to work with, and just how much defense can be played by the lead car; restarts shaking out, how fast your pit stop is, all those little details throughout the day can put you in a good position at the end of those races. And a lot of guys are good enough to hold on for short stints. We see a lot of green-white-checkered finishes … all those things are really just recipes for more winners.”
*BOWMAN CONFIDENCE
Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman concedes he may not have been a consensus pick to challenge for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series championship, but after winning this summer in Chicago his team is invigorated competing. And it shows.
He’s currently ranked sixth in the standings – eight points up on the cutoff line. He’s had three top-10 finishes in the four Playoff races with a best showing of third place in the Atlanta opener. He was fifth at Talladega earlier this year and his best finish there is runner-up in 2019. He comes into the weekend very encouraged.
“It’s been a good four weeks for us, but a long way to go still,’’ Bowman said. “Just need to keep executing on a high level. I certainly know that we are capable of it, that I’m capable of it. Just have a long way to go and need to keep it up.
“We haven’t won in the Playoffs and we’re running okay, not amazing,’’ he added, conceding that he’s been underestimated for much of his career at the NASCAR Cup Series level even with eight wins.
“I think that’s been kinda the story of my career [overcoming doubters]. I know my situation with the team and what we’re capable of, but that’s just how things have been forever.”
*TOYOTA TALLADEGA CHALLENGE
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell said his Toyota teammate Reddick raised a good point during a discussion on their flight to Talladega. With so few Toyotas in Sunday’s field – compared to the double digit entries for rival Chevrolet and Ford, there is more importance on working together.
“I think it all just boils down to having friends at the end of the race and executing the pit cycle,” said Bell, driver of the No. 20 JGR Toyota. “Tyler and I were talking on the plane about strategies through the pit cycle and one thing he pointed out and I hadn’t even thought about was we just have to be so diligent on our protocol and our system we have in place because we don’t have the numbers.
“Where if a couple Fords or a couple Chevrolets mess up on the pit cycle they can get away with it because they have almost twice as many cars as we do. Only having eight in the field, if you lose one or two it hurts. It you lose three or more, it’s basically a strategy killer. You just have to be really mindful and very diligent. I think if you make mistakes and lose numbers it affects us more greatly than other manufacturers.’’
