Chandler Smith beats Nemechek to Xfinity pole at Loudon

Smith, who drives the No. 16 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing, just edged John Hunter Nemechek to win the pole for Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Smith's average lap speed of 126.291 mph was enough to hold off Nemechek (126.123 mph), who drives the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing and is tied with Austin Hill for the most wins this season.

It's the second consecutive pole for Smith, who also led the field to green in last weekend's race at Atlanta, and third of the 2023 season.

"First time I've ever been here in New Hampshire and I love the place already," Smith said. "Looking forward to hopefully putting on a good show starting on the front row. We'll see what we have tomorrow."

While Smith is fifth in the series standings, he has not earned a top-five finish since his victory on April 1 at Richmond, Va.

Josh Berry was third-fastest, Justin Allgaier fourth and Brandon Jones rounded out the top-five.

Completing the top-10 starting lineup are Cole Custer, Sammy Smith, Hill, Austin Dillon and Sam Mayer.