A.J. Allmendinger stuns at Bristol with first pole…

Excitement was building around the 16 playoff drivers at Bristol Motor Speedway, but all eyes should have been on A.J. Allmendinger and the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet.

After lapping the half-mile in 15.117 seconds, no one could touch him in a shocking upset that surprised even the veteran driver. This is Allmendinger's fifth career pole, but his first in over a decade. You have to go even further back for his most recent pole on an oval, which came at Kansas Speedway in April of 2012.

"I don't know, I closed my eyes at a couple points," smiled Allmendinger when asked how he secured P1. "I'm not really sure. This Chevy was pretty good in practice, and this place is so tough to qualify. The first lap, she stuck and I looked down at the dash like okay, that's a pretty good lap. I know it's just qualifying. We got 500 laps around this place but to get a pole at Bristol is pretty awesome.

Continued Allmendinger: "Every old dog has his day. Hopefully we can do that for 500 laps, but I'm super proud of all the men and women at Kaulig Racing. We've been building fast cars all year, and this Cup Series is tough -- especially when you're a small team trying to grow. Little victories like this -- even though it's qualifying -- means a lot to us."

Kaulig Racing team president Chris Rice and driver AJ Allmendinger after Bristol pole (Photo by: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Allmendinger has led just four laps all year, but he will likely smash that in a big way on Saturday night, as track position is everything at Bristol.

The closest driver to Allmeninger was Ryan Blaney, who missed the pole by 0.003s and will join him on the front row.

Blaney's Team Penske teammate Austin Cindric, who entered this race on the playoff hot seat with 11 points between himself and the elimination zone, qualified third in a huge win for that team.

Ty Gibbs and Kyle Larson rounded out the top five with the rest of the top ten as follows: Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell, Josh Berry.

Looking beyond the top ten, other playoff drivers scattered throughout the field include Ross Chastain in 13th, Tyler Reddick 14th, Alex Bowman 15th, Chase Elliott 16th, Joey Logano 22nd, Austin 23rd, Shane van Gisbergen 28th, and Chase Briscoe back in 31st.

Photos from Bristol - Practice

AJ Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing Chevrolet


Cla	Driver	#	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Interval	Mph
1	A. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing	16	Chevrolet	2	15.117		126.930
2	R. Blaney Team Penske	12	Ford	2	+0.003 15.120	0.003	126.905
3	A. Cindric Team Penske	2	Ford	2	+0.015 15.132	0.012	126.804
4	T. Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing	54	Toyota	2	+0.025 15.142	0.010	126.720
5	K. Larson Hendrick Motorsports	5	Chevrolet	2	+0.031 15.148	0.006	126.670
6	D. Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing	11	Toyota	2	+0.074 15.191	0.043	126.312
7	W. Byron Hendrick Motorsports	24	Chevrolet	2	+0.089 15.206	0.015	126.187
8	B. Wallace 23XI Racing	23	Toyota	2	+0.091 15.208	0.002	126.170
9	J. Berry Wood Brothers Racing	21	Ford	2	+0.097 15.214	0.006	126.121
10	C. Bell Joe Gibbs Racing	20	Toyota	2	+0.097 15.214	0.000	126.121
11	R. Stenhouse Jr Hyak Motorsports	47	Chevrolet	2	+0.103 15.220	0.006	126.071
12	C. Hocevar Spire Motorsports	77	Chevrolet	2	+0.105 15.222	0.002	126.054
13	R. Chastain TrackHouse Racing	1	Chevrolet	2	+0.122 15.239	0.017	125.914
14	T. Reddick 23XI Racing	45	Toyota	2	+0.129 15.246	0.007	125.856
15	A. Bowman Hendrick Motorsports	48	Chevrolet	2	+0.141 15.258	0.012	125.757
16	C. Elliott Hendrick Motorsports	9	Chevrolet	2	+0.154 15.271	0.013	125.650
17	J. Haley Spire Motorsports	7	Chevrolet	2	+0.155 15.272	0.001	125.642
18	B. Keselowski RFK Racing	6	Ford	1	+0.156 15.273	0.001	125.633
19	J. Nemechek Legacy Motor Club	42	Toyota	2	+0.156 15.273	0.000	125.633
20	R. Preece RFK Racing	60	Ford	2	+0.164 15.281	0.008	125.568
21	C. Buescher RFK Racing	17	Ford	2	+0.173 15.290	0.009	125.494
22	J. Logano Team Penske	22	Ford	2	+0.181 15.298	0.008	125.428
23	A. Dillon Richard Childress Racing	3	Chevrolet	2	+0.215 15.332	0.034	125.150
24	Z. Smith Front Row Motorsports	38	Ford	2	+0.227 15.344	0.012	125.052
25	M. McDowell Spire Motorsports	71	Chevrolet	2	+0.244 15.361	0.017	124.914
26	C. Custer Haas Factory Team	41	Ford	2	+0.258 15.375	0.014	124.800
27	E. Jones Legacy Motor Club	43	Toyota	2	+0.271 15.388	0.013	124.695
28	S. van Gisbergen TrackHouse Racing	88	Chevrolet	2	+0.279 15.396	0.008	124.630
29	R. Herbst 23XI Racing	35	Toyota	2	+0.280 15.397	0.001	124.622
30	N. Gragson Front Row Motorsports	4	Ford	2	+0.285 15.402	0.005	124.581
31	C. Briscoe Joe Gibbs Racing	19	Toyota	2	+0.314 15.431	0.029	124.347
32	K. Busch Richard Childress Racing	8	Chevrolet	2	+0.315 15.432	0.001	124.339
33	A. Hill Richard Childress Racing	33	Chevrolet	2	+0.363 15.480	0.048	123.953
34	C. Ware Rick Ware Racing	51	Ford	2	+0.483 15.600	0.120	123.000
35	D. Suarez TrackHouse Racing	99	Chevrolet	2	+0.495 15.612	0.012	122.905
36	T. Gilliland Front Row Motorsports	34	Ford	2	+0.514 15.631	0.019	122.756
37	T. Dillon Kaulig Racing	10	Chevrolet	2	+0.540 15.657	0.026	122.552
38	C. Heim 23XI Racing	67	Toyota	2	+0.556 15.673	0.016	122.427
39	C. Finchum Garage 66	66	Ford	2	+0.937 16.054	0.381	119.522
View full results