TALLADEGA, Ala. – Front Row Motorsports maintained its strong position out front at Talladega Superspeedway with 24-year-old driver Zane Smith convincingly claiming the first pole position of his NASCAR Cup Series career – the third consecutive at the track for his team.
Smith, the 2022 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, will lead the field to the green flag in Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at the sport’s biggest track, alongside two-time series champion Kyle Busch, who starts next to Smith on the front row. This marks Smith’s best start since earning pole position at Dover Motor Speedway last spring.
The talented driver earned his first pole position with a remarkable lap of 182.174 mph in the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports ford/”>Ford, bettering Busch’s time by a slim .132 seconds on the 2.66-mile circuit. “Obviously a lot of speed,” said Smith, who was fastest in the opening-round time trials and managed to improve that time in the final round. “Just really proud of how our whole team has been working together before our one-week break last week. I feel like that one-week break was perfect not to reset but to digest and think about what we need to rebuild on.”
“And now we’re off to a good start for this next long stretch. Proud of the speed and everything we’ve been doing, just need to execute a little bit better, but a ton of speed this weekend. Long race tomorrow and a lot of things are going to happen and go on, but obviously we have the speed to do it. We’ll see how it goes,” he added.
Seven Fords, a pair of Chevrolets, and a single toyota/”>Toyota advanced to the 10-car final round, showcasing a competitive field. Reigning series champion, Team Penske’s Joey Logano, and Roush Fenway Keselowski’s Ryan Preece will start from row two. Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon, RFK’s Chris Buescher, Penske’s Austin Cindric, Wood Brothers’s Josh Berry, Penske’s Ryan Blaney, and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs, the only Toyota, rounded out the second round qualifiers.
Defending race winner Tyler Reddick will roll off 26th in the 23XI Racing No. 45 Toyota. Championship points leader, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, will start 16th on the 39-car grid.
