Brian Scott won the pole for Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, where he posted a fast lap of 48.293 seconds, 198.290 mph in his No. 33 Shore Lodge Chevrolet SS. In a wild knockout-style qualifying format consisting of three sessions, the new method for restrictor plate race tracks netted Scott his first career pole in Sprint Cup competition. His previous best start was 12th in this year’s season-opening Daytona 500. Primarily a NASCAR Nationwide Series driver, Scott will lead the 43-car NASCAR Sprint Cup field to the green flag in just his fifth Cup start. It also marked the 31st pole for Chevrolet at the 2.66-mile track, the longest on the circuit.
“To be able to get a pole position for the little guys Joe Falk, team owner and Circle Sport racing we are just really in a fortunate position to be part of the RCR/ECR alliance,” said Scott. It’s the same horsepower, and same group that got the pole at Daytona in single-car qualifying. I think it speaks volumes for the shop and the effort that those guys are putting forward both under the hood and across the body of these Chevy SSs. I guess they have what it takes when it counts at these superspeedways.”
Scott’s Richard Childress Racing teammate, Paul Menard, was second quick in his No. 27 Richmond/Menards Chevrolet SS. AJ Allmendinger qualified third in the No. 47 Bush’s Beans Chevrolet SS, and Casey Mears was fourth in the No. 13 GEICO Chevy SS. Austin Dillon, who sat on the pole at this year’s Daytona 500, was the fastest qualifying rookie by posting the fifth quickest time in his No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet SS; and teammate Ryan Newman qualified sixth in the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevy SS. The top six Chevrolet SS race cars are powered by Earnhardt Childress Racing engines.
Also demonstrating strong Chevy power in today’s qualifying results with a seventh place effort was the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS driven by Danica Patrick, along with Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kevin Harvick, who qualified his No. 4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet SS in eighth, and Kurt Busch who was ninth fast in the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS.
POS | Car # | Driver | Make |
1 | 33 | Brian Scott | Chevrolet |
2 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet |
3 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet |
4 | 13 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet |
5 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet |
6 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet |
7 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet |
8 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet |
9 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet |
10 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford |
11 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet |
12 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet |
13 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford |
14 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Ford |
15 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford |
16 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford |
17 | 7 | Michael Annett | Chevrolet |
18 | 55 | Brian Vickers | Toyota |
19 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota |
20 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet |
21 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota |
22 | 36 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet |
23 | 21 | Trevor Bayne | Ford |
24 | 83 | Ryan Truex | Toyota |
25 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Ford |
26 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford |
27 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota |
28 | 66 | Michael Waltrip | Toyota |
29 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet |
30 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | Chevrolet |
31 | 26 | Cole Whitt | Toyota |
32 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet |
33 | 23 | Alex Bowman | Toyota |
34 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota |
35 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford |
36 | 98 | Josh Wise | Ford |
37 | 32 | Terry Labonte | Ford |
38 | 51 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet |
39 | 34 | David Ragan | Ford |
40 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford |
41 | 40 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet |
42 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet |
43 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | Chevrolet |