Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Global

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

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

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#DriverManufacturerTimeGapMph
1 88 united_states Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Chevrolet 50.299   190.382
2 22 united_states Joey Logano  Ford 50.354 0.055 190.174
3 24 united_states Chase Elliott  Chevrolet 50.356 0.057 190.166
4 41 united_states Kurt Busch  Ford 50.376 0.077 190.091
5 2 united_states Brad Keselowski  Ford 50.410 0.111 189.962
6 17 united_states Ricky Stenhouse Jr.  Ford 50.447 0.148 189.823
7 14 united_states Clint Bowyer  Ford 50.461 0.162 189.770
8 21 united_states Ryan Blaney  Ford 50.486 0.187 189.676
9 6 united_states Trevor Bayne  Ford 50.501 0.202 189.620
10 48 united_states Jimmie Johnson  Chevrolet 50.514 0.215 189.571
11 5 united_states Kasey Kahne  Chevrolet 50.570 0.271 189.361
12 42 united_states Kyle Larson  Chevrolet 50.621 0.322 189.171
13 10 united_states Danica Patrick  Ford 50.640 0.341 189.100
14 19 mexico Daniel Suarez  Toyota 50.678 0.379 188.958
15 11 united_states Denny Hamlin  Toyota 50.715 0.416 188.820
16 18 united_states Kyle Busch  Toyota 50.725 0.426 188.783
17 1 united_states Jamie McMurray  Chevrolet 50.725 0.426 188.783
18 3 united_states Austin Dillon  Chevrolet 50.746 0.447 188.705
19 20 united_states Matt Kenseth  Toyota 50.757 0.458 188.664
20 27 united_states Paul Menard  Chevrolet 50.767 0.468 188.626
21 78 united_states Martin Truex Jr.  Toyota 50.788 0.489 188.548
22 4 united_states Kevin Harvick  Ford 50.828 0.529 188.400
23 77 united_states Erik Jones  Toyota 50.863 0.564 188.270
24 47 united_states A.J. Allmendinger  Chevrolet 50.875 0.576 188.226
25 13 united_states Ty Dillon  Chevrolet 50.877 0.578 188.219
26 43 united_states Aric Almirola  Ford 50.932 0.633 188.015
27 31 united_states Ryan Newman  Chevrolet 50.957 0.658 187.923
28 37 united_states Chris Buescher  Chevrolet 50.966 0.667 187.890
29 95 united_states Michael McDowell  Chevrolet 51.040 0.741 187.618
30 34 united_states Landon Cassill  Ford 51.098 0.799 187.405
31 7 united_states Justin Marks  Chevrolet 51.101 0.802 187.394
32 32 united_states Matt DiBenedetto  Ford 51.168 0.869 187.148
33 38 united_states David Ragan  Ford 51.321 1.022 186.590
34 33 united_states Jeffrey Earnhardt  Chevrolet 51.434 1.135 186.180
35 75 united_states Brendan Gaughan  Chevrolet 51.652 1.353 185.395
36 15 united_states Mark Thompson  Chevrolet 51.787 1.488 184.911
37 23 united_states Joey Gase  Toyota 51.928 1.629 184.409
38 72 united_states Cole Whitt  Chevrolet 51.935 1.636 184.384
39 83 united_states Gray Gaulding  Toyota 52.379 2.080 182.821
40 55 canada D.J. Kennington  Toyota 52.484 2.185 182.456

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Chase Elliott enters Talladega the top driver in points without a win
Next article One more time: Dale Earnhardt Jr. ready for final Talladega start

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Global