{"id":45606,"date":"2024-04-20T17:03:44","date_gmt":"2024-04-20T22:03:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=45606"},"modified":"2024-04-20T17:09:08","modified_gmt":"2024-04-20T22:09:08","slug":"mcdowell-captures-pole-for-sundays-race-at-talladega","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/20\/mcdowell-captures-pole-for-sundays-race-at-talladega\/","title":{"rendered":"McDowell captures pole for Sunday’s race at Talladega"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Holly Cain<\/em><\/p>\n

NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

TALLADEGA, Ala. \u2013 Ford led qualifying for Sunday\u2019s GEICO 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), with Michael McDowell earning the second pole position of his career Saturday.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Michael McDowell, driver of the #34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford, poses for photos after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 20, 2024 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

McDowell\u2019s No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford made a dramatic final run in the final round of qualifying with a speed of 182.022 mph (52.609 seconds) around the 2.66-mile high-banks, just edging fellow Mustang driver Austin Cindric, whose top speed in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford was 181.739 mph (52.691 seconds). It was a dramatic birthday nod for the Ford Mustang that is celebrating its 60th anniversary this week.<\/p>\n

Superspeedway racing has been a strong suit for 39-year old Phoenix native McDowell. He started on the outside of the front row for the season-opening Daytona 500 and won his only other pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March. Sunday will mark his fifth top-10 starting spot of 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we all felt that pressure knowing how strong we were at Daytona and Atlanta to come here to Talladega and repeat and have a really good starting spot,\u2019\u2019 said McDowell, the 2021 Daytona 500 winner and last year\u2019s Indianapolis Grand Prix winner.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guys put a lot of energy and effort into all the little extra details it takes to get that speed. So excited for tomorrow and feel good about what we\u2019ve been able to do this year with our superspeedway program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a good week for us to get a win,\u2019\u2019 McDowell added with a smile, noting the Ford Mustang anniversary.<\/p>\n

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Michael McDowell, driver of the #34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford, signs autographs for fans after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 20, 2024 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Ford, which has yet to secure a trophy in the season\u2019s nine races, certainly stacked Talladega qualifying. McDowell\u2019s teammate Todd Gilliland \u2013 who has led the most superspeedway laps this year – was third fastest in the No. 38 Ford, followed by Richard Childress Racing teammates Kyle Busch in the No. 8 Chevy and Austin Dillon in the No. 3 Chevrolet. Busch is the defending race winner.<\/p>\n

Joe Gibbs Racing\u2019s Martin Truex Jr. was the top Toyota in qualifying and his No. 19 Camry will roll off sixth. Team Penske\u2019s Joey Logano will start seventh in the No. 22 Ford Mustang, followed by Ford teammate Roush Fenway Keselowski\u2019s Chris Buescher, last week\u2019s race winner Chase Elliott in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and Christopher Bell in the No. 20 JGR Toyota.<\/p>\n

Of note, NASCAR Cup Series championship leader Kyle Larson will be starting last in the 38-car field.<\/p>\n

His No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet wasn\u2019t allowed to qualify Saturday because team members were seen tampering with the roof rails while pushing the car to pit road. NASCAR deemed it an unapproved adjustment and immediately disallowed a qualifying attempt.<\/p>\n

Stewart-Haas Racing\u2019s Ryan Preece will start 11th in the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford \u2013 his best qualifying run, by far, this season. Also of note, Hendrick Motorsports William Byron, a series-best three-race winner this season, will roll off 13th, alongside 23XI Racing\u2019s Bubba Wallace, who earned his first career victory here in 2021.<\/p>\n

Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Penske Racing\u2019s Ryan Blaney \u2013 who has three Talladega victories including last Fall in the Playoffs, will start 21st.  Joe Gibbs Racing\u2019s Denny Hamlin, a two-time winner at the track, will start 23rd.<\/p>\n

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Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, prepares to qualify for the NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 20, 2024 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

NOTES<\/p>\n

*Hendrick Motorsports\u2019 Elliott is a two-time Talladega race winner and has always been strong on the big tracks \u2013 like ‘Dega and Daytona International Speedway. But, he conceded, he never knows what to \u201cexpect\u201d at these venues in terms of the final run to the finish.<\/p>\n

Five of the last eight Talladega races have included an overtime finish \u2013 neither of Elliott\u2019s wins (2019 and 2022), however, came with extra laps.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019 a 64 dollar question, I don\u2019t know,\u2019\u2019 Elliott said of the situation and being able to plan ahead on the strategy of extra laps or not.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me personally, I look at it like it\u2019s going to go to the finish and you try to position yourself where you want to be when you get back to the start-finish line. it\u2019s just really hard thing to guess when a wreck is going to happen, if it\u2019s going to happen. I just don\u2019t know. Ask [Ryan] Blaney. I feel like he\u2019s won the last 15 races.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

*Blaney, who won at Talladega last Fall, was asked about Elliott\u2019s remarks on why he is so good at the big track \u2013 in regulation or in overtime. A victory this weekend would mark his fourth at Talladega.<\/p>\n

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Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Wabash Ford, looks on during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 20, 2024 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cYou never can predict it, I\u2019ve always had that in my head,\u2019\u2019 Blaney said. \u201cYou can sit around and predict favorites for these races here for and Daytona and it\u2019s like trying to guess the lottery. You just never know what\u2019s going to happen. My mindset is always just try to stay in the game and just be in position to try and capitalize at the end. We\u2019ve been fortunate here the last handful of times to have a shot to at least run up front and have a shot to win the race.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

*Even before McDowell won pole position for Sunday\u2019s race, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing\u2019s Buescher acknowledged this weekend\u2019s Talladega 500-miler represented a really great opportunity for Ford to get in the winner\u2019s column for the first time this season.<\/p>\n

Blaney won the Fall Talladega race in his Ford, and Buescher\u2019s teammate and team co-owner Brad Keselowski is the winningest driver in Sunday\u2019s field with six victories at the big track.<\/p>\n

Even without having a win, Buescher is ranked 13th with five top-10s in the opening nine races. Keselowski is ranked 17th with three top-five showings.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s circled high on the list, because it\u2019s \u201cthe next one,\u2019\u2019 Buescher said of Talladega, noting that for his RFK team the opening eight races of this season have been far more successful than they were a year ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were fast in Daytona,\u2019\u2019 he said, adding, \u201cWe\u2019re never sitting still, this sport doesn\u2019t do that.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Former Ford driver and current FOX television NASCAR analyst Kevin Harvick said this week, Ford needs to win and win soon. Keselowski agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a better opportunity for us,\u2019\u2019 Keselowski said of Ford winning at Talladega. \u201cWe have more speed as a manufacturer at these types pf tracks and we need to capitalize on that. I think it\u2019s a great opportunity not just for Ford to win but for our team to win at RFK and we need to come out of here with great finishes.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Interviews:<\/h3>\n

Busch Light Pole Winner – Michael McDowell (Driver, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chris Buescher (Driver, No. 17 RFK Ford) <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/MEDIACENTER3BBuescherTALLADEGA20APR2024NCS.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ryan Blaney (Driver, No. 12 Team Penske Ford)<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/R050003042024BlaneyMP3.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chase Elliott (Driver, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/R050002.MP3Elliott042024.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. \u2013 Ford led qualifying for Sunday\u2019s GEICO 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), with Michael McDowell earning the second pole position of his career Saturday. McDowell\u2019s No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford made a dramatic final run in the final […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":45621,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[711,16,208],"class_list":["post-45606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-michael-mcdowell","tag-nascar","tag-talladega-superspeedway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-2149409240-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1808&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-bRA","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45606"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45633,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45606\/revisions\/45633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}