NASCAR: Aric Almirola Takes Quaker State 400 Pole at Atlanta - Full Qualifying Results
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Full results from qualifying at Atlanta where Aric Almirola earned pole position for the race.
2023 Quaker State 400 at Atlanta - Qualifying Results | |||
Pos | Driver | Team | Manufacturer |
1 | Aric Almirola | Stewart Haas Racing | Ford |
2 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford |
3 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart Haas Racing | Ford |
4 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford |
5 | Harrison Burton | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford |
6 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart Haas Racing | Ford |
7 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
8 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
9 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
10 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Ford |
11 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford |
12 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | Toyota |
13 | Ryan Preece | Stewart Haas Racing | Ford |
14 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
15 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford |
16 | Martin Truex Jr | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
17 | Justin Haley | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet |
18 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
19 | AJ Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet |
20 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
21 | Cole Custer | Rick Ware Racing | Ford |
22 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
23 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
24 | JJ Yeley | Rick Ware Racing | Ford |
25 | Erik Jones | Legacy Motor Club | Chevrolet |
26 | Daniel Suarez | TrackHouse Racing | Chevrolet |
27 | Ty Dillon | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet |
28 | Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet |
29 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet |
30 | Ross Chastain | TrackHouse Racing | Chevrolet |
31 | Noah Gragson | Legacy Motor Club | Chevrolet |
32 | Austin Hill | Beard Motorsports | Chevrolet |
33 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
34 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
35 | BJ McLeod | Live Fast Motorsports | Chevrolet |
36 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
37 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota |
The second Cup race at Atlanta is shaping up to be a repeat of the first back in March. Ford once again dominated qualifying, taking nine of the top 11 positions, including pole position. That honor went to Aric Almirola, who led a strong Stewart Haas Racing contingent on Saturday. It is the fifth career pole for Almirola; his second at Atlanta and his first of the season. Ryan Blaney will start alongside him on the front row, as the Team Penske driver came up just 0.014 seconds shy of snatching the top spot.
Almirola is trying to become the third straight driver to win the Atlanta race from pole position. "I thought the car drove decent the first round, but it looked like a lot of guys were having a hard time. My Ford Mustang drove really good. We've been working so hard to get our cars where they need to be. Thank you to Doug Yates and everybody at Roush-Yates engine shop. You need a lot of horsepower when you come to a place where you run wide open. We're gonna lead the field to the green, but hopefully we can finish there on Sunday."
Row 2 is also a SHR/Penske duo, featuring Chase Briscoe and defending race winner Joey Logano. The same can be said for Row 3, which has Harrison Burton (Wood Brothers Racing / Penske) and Kevin Harvick. This will be the 36th and final start at Atlanta for Harvick, who famously got his first Cup win here in 2001 with Richard Childress Racing after taking over the ride following Dale Earnhardt's death. Harvick is a three-time Atlanta winner and his 1,360 laps led are far-and-away the most among active drivers.
Ty Gibbs and Kyle Larson will start from Row 4 tomorrow, leading the way for Toyota and Chevrolet. Larson is the only Chevrolet driver that qualified inside the top 16. Todd Gilliland and Austin Cindric rounded out the top-ten in qualifying. Brad Keselowski just missed out on the final round and will start 11th tomorrow. Tyler Reddick starts beside him in 12th, and was able to put together a good lap after his teammate Bubba Wallace had to abort his qualifying attempt after nearly crashing.
Wallace was certainly not the only driver with his hands full on Saturday. Christopher Bell and Alex Bowman also had close calls that killed their one-lap run in qualifying. After winning the last two races, Trackhouse Racing struggled today in qualifying as Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain start 26th and 30th tomorrow. Kyle Busch (22nd) and Chase Elliott (23rd) will also have some work to do in order to get to the front in the race.
Previous Atlanta winners
2023: Joey Logano
2022: Chase Elliott
2022: William Byron
2021: Kurt Busch
2021: Ryan Blaney
2020: Kevin Harvick
2019: Brad Keselowski
2018: Kevin Harvick
2017: Brad Keselowski
2016: Jimmie Johnson
2015: Jimmie Johnson
2014: Kasey Kahne
2013: Kyle Busch
2012: Denny Hamlin
2011: Jeff Gordon
2010: Tony Stewart