Dale Earnhardt Jr. earns pole for final Cup race at Talladega
Dale Earnhardt Jr. will make his 35th and final start at Talladega Superspeedway from the pole.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images
Earnhardt was fastest in Round 1 and backed that up with a lap of 190.544mph for his first pole at the 2.66-mile track and his 15th-career Cup pole. He has started on the front row for all four restrictor-plate races in 2017.
“Hey y’all, all right, awesome car,” Earnhardt said after taking his second lap. “First pole here. Pretty awesome.”
Chase Elliott was second to give Hendrick Motorsports the front row for the Alabama 500. The Fords of Joey Logano, Kurt Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brad Keselowski and Clint Bowyer followed with Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Blaney, Trevor Bayne, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Larson rounding out the top 12.
Larson, who has never qualified in the top 12 at a restrictor plate track, set the pace for Round 2 with a lap of 189.242mph. He was bumped by Kahne’s lap of 189.620mph. Johnson was the third Hendrick-powered Chevy to post a time and moved to the provisional pole with a lap of 189.774mph.
Bayne was the first Ford to flex his Roush-Yates horsepower and vaulted to P2 (189.658mph). Blaney cruised to second-quick with a lap of 189.669mph. Bowyer bounced to the provisional pole with a lap of 189.778mph. Stenhouse bumped Bowyer with a lap of 190.170mph.
“P1 for the moment,” crew chief Brian Pattie told his driver.
Keselowski climbed to second with his lap of 190.151mph.
“That’s a solid place to start guys, thanks,” Keselowski said.
Kurt Busch knocked Stenhouse off of the provisional pole with a lap of 190.268mph.
“Great job guys,” Busch said.
“Pretty wheel,” replied crew chief Tony Gibson.
Busch’s time at the top was fleeting as Elliott topped Busch with a lap of 190.412mph.
The crowd was on its feet as Earnhardt took his final qualifying lap around Talladega — and shrieked after seeing the No. 88 move to the top of the leaderboard.
Round 1
Dale Earnhardt Jr. captured the top spot in Round 1 of qualifying for the Alabama 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Of the 12 drivers to transfer to the second round, there wasn’t a Toyota in the field.
Joey Logano was the fastest Ford in Round 1 followed by Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Clint Bowyer, Ryan Blaney, Trevor Bayne, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Larson.
The top Toyota was Daniel Suarez, who will roll off 14th on Sunday.
Jimmie Johnson was the sixth driver to take a lap and jumped to the provisional pole with a lap 189.571mph. Jamie McMurray (188.783mph) was the next playoff driver to qualify and jumped to second of the nine drivers to set a time.
Kyle Larson was the 10th driver on the track and bumped his Ganassi teammate for second with a lap of 189.171mph.
Chase Elliott cruised to the top of the leaderboard after posting a lap of 190.166mph. Elliott was the 15th driver to set a time and knocked Johnson off the provisional pole. After twenty minutes — and 17 drivers — Elliott was first followed by Johnson, Larson, McMurray, Paul Menard, AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Newman, Chris Buescher, Michael McDowell and Justin Marks rounded out the top 10.
Landon Cassill, the 20th driver to qualify, jumped into the top 10 (187.405mph) but it was short-lived after Daniel Suarez vaulted to fourth (188.958mph).Trevor Bayne, the first of the Roush Fenway Fords, bounced up to second-quick (189.620mph). Erik Jones established the eighth-fastest lap with a speed of 188.270.
Matt Kenseth was the 24th driver to post a time just past the 30-minute mark. He was seventh (188.664mph). Martin Truex followed but his lap of 188.548mph was initially ninth-quick. Kyle Busch was the second-fastest Toyota with a speed of 188.783mph. Austin Dillon, who qualified 27th, bumped Allmendinger out of the top 12 with the eighth-fastest lap (188.705mph).
But it was Dale Earnhardt Jr. who sent the crowd into a frenzy as he posted a lap of 190.382mph for the provisional pole. Denny Hamlin’s lap of 188.820mph was seventh on the board. He knocked Truex out of the top 12. Kasey Kahne ran the fifth-fastest lap — 189.361mph — and squeezed Menard out of a transfer spot.
Joey Logano — the first of the Team Penske Fords — vaulted to second with a lap of 190.174mph. Danica Patrick motored to the eighth spot with a speed of 189.100mph. Clint Bowyer bounced up to fourth with a lap of 189.770mph and pushed McMurray out of the top 12.
"I was wide open, I'm afraid that's all I got," Bowyer said. "I'd hate to be the guy to knock Junior off of the pole, but I'd be ok with it."
Kevin Harvick could only muster the 18th-fast lap (188.400mph). Stenhouse bumped Kyle Busch out of a transfer spot with the fourth-quick lap of 189.823mph.
“Good job,” crew chief Brian Pattie told his driver.
With three drivers remaining to take laps, Blaney (189.676mph) climbed to sixth on the chart. Daytona 500 winner Kurt Busch shot up to fourth-quick (190.091mph) and sent the final Toyota — Suarez — out of the top 12. Keselowski, who was the fastest driver in first practice, made the final attempt of the 40 drivers and qualified fifth (189.862mph) in the first round.
Here is video from Earnhardt's historic qualifying run:
Complete qualifying results below:
Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Time | Gap | Mph |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 50.299 | 190.382 | |
2 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 50.354 | 0.055 | 190.174 |
3 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 50.356 | 0.057 | 190.166 |
4 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 50.376 | 0.077 | 190.091 |
5 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 50.410 | 0.111 | 189.962 |
6 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 50.447 | 0.148 | 189.823 |
7 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 50.461 | 0.162 | 189.770 |
8 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 50.486 | 0.187 | 189.676 |
9 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 50.501 | 0.202 | 189.620 |
10 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 50.514 | 0.215 | 189.571 |
11 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 50.570 | 0.271 | 189.361 |
12 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 50.621 | 0.322 | 189.171 |
13 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Ford | 50.640 | 0.341 | 189.100 |
14 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 50.678 | 0.379 | 188.958 |
15 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 50.715 | 0.416 | 188.820 |
16 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 50.725 | 0.426 | 188.783 |
17 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 50.725 | 0.426 | 188.783 |
18 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 50.746 | 0.447 | 188.705 |
19 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 50.757 | 0.458 | 188.664 |
20 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 50.767 | 0.468 | 188.626 |
21 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 50.788 | 0.489 | 188.548 |
22 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 50.828 | 0.529 | 188.400 |
23 | 77 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 50.863 | 0.564 | 188.270 |
24 | 47 | A.J. Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 50.875 | 0.576 | 188.226 |
25 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 50.877 | 0.578 | 188.219 |
26 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 50.932 | 0.633 | 188.015 |
27 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 50.957 | 0.658 | 187.923 |
28 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 50.966 | 0.667 | 187.890 |
29 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Chevrolet | 51.040 | 0.741 | 187.618 |
30 | 34 | Landon Cassill | Ford | 51.098 | 0.799 | 187.405 |
31 | 7 | Justin Marks | Chevrolet | 51.101 | 0.802 | 187.394 |
32 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 51.168 | 0.869 | 187.148 |
33 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 51.321 | 1.022 | 186.590 |
34 | 33 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Chevrolet | 51.434 | 1.135 | 186.180 |
35 | 75 | Brendan Gaughan | Chevrolet | 51.652 | 1.353 | 185.395 |
36 | 15 | Mark Thompson | Chevrolet | 51.787 | 1.488 | 184.911 |
37 | 23 | Joey Gase | Toyota | 51.928 | 1.629 | 184.409 |
38 | 72 | Cole Whitt | Chevrolet | 51.935 | 1.636 | 184.384 |
39 | 83 | Gray Gaulding | Toyota | 52.379 | 2.080 | 182.821 |
40 | 55 | D.J. Kennington | Toyota | 52.484 | 2.185 | 182.456 |
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