Briscoe sets Fastest Next-Gen pole speed at Talladega

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Chase Briscoe sets the fastest next-gen superspeedway pole speed for the Yellawood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

This is his first pole of the year and his tenth of his career.

After a career-high and series-best seven poles on 2026 it took Briscoe until the 34th race of the season to capture his first in 2027.

The 3.5 inch spoiler that NASCAR instituted for superspeedways from the previous Daytona race onwards has made a world of difference in qualifying.

Combine the new spoiler with the mix of qualifying strategy, the field is very mixed up.

Of course, Chase Briscoe will lead the field to green as he tries to defend his fall Talladega win from 2026 with the best starting position possible.

To his outside is Austin Hill. Hill qualified third at Daytona in August and the team continued to flex their single-lap superspeedway muscle once more from second.

The second row is comprised of the Trackhouse Racing duo of Connor Zilisch and Shane van Gisbergen. They will start third and fourth on the same weekend where they swap spotters.

Then, Chris Buescher is the highest qualified Ford Racing driver in the field in fifth. He will start alongside the current Chase runner-up driver of Christopher Bell in sixth.

Alex Bowman returns to Talladega to make it back-to-back top five finishes on the year as he start from seventh. Next to him is Ty Gibbs on the fourth row from eighth.

Finally, both drivers on the fifth row need better weekends here in Alabama. Denny Hamlin will start ninth alongside Kyle Larson from the tenth position.

Notable Entrants

With the field jumbled up from teams opting to either choose single-lap speed or handling in the race, many Chase drivers start outside of the top ten.

Leading the bunch of ten is Daniel Suarez from 13th. Then, Joey Logano will start from 16th with William Byron, Chase Elliott, and Ryan Preece trailing directly behind him from 17th-19th.

Another block of four Chase drivers will start from 25th to 28th. In order, they include Bubba Wallace, Carson Hocevar, and the Team Penske duo of Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric.

Finally, last week’s winner, Tyler Reddick will start the furthest back of them all in 33rd.

All 40 entrants will start the race. Four open entrants entered the Yellawood 500 at Talladega. Casey Mears will start 34th in the Beard Oil Racing No. 62 as he gets ever closer to his 500th career start.

Then Daniel Dye returns to the Live Fast No. 78 in 36th. Joey Gase is in the NY Racing No. 44 in 38th. Finally, Gray Gaulding rounds out the field in the Garage 66 No. 66 from 40th.

Below is the full starting lineup for the eighth race of the Cup Series Chase at Talladega.

Starting Lineup

1. Chase Briscoe: 51.466
2. Austin Hill(i): 51.498
3. Connor Zilisch: 51.518
4. Shane van Gisbergen: 51.565
5. Chris Buescher: 51.593
6. Christopher Bell: 51.609
7. Alex Bowman: 51.621
8. Ty Gibbs: 51.678
9. Denny Hamlin: 51.734
10. Kyle Larson: 51.812
11. Cody Ware: 51.802
12. Austin Dillon: 51.805
13. Daniel Suarez: 51.821
14. Riley Herbst: 51.825
15. Ross Chastain: 51.841
16. Joey Logano: 51.848
17. William Byron: 51.851
18. Chase Elliott: 51.862
19. Ryan Preece: 51.862
20. Cole Custer: 51.866
21. Josh Berry: 51.898
22. Brad Keselowski: 51.943
23. Michael McDowell: 51.956
24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: 51.969
25. Bubba Wallace: 51.980
26. Carson Hocevar: 51.984
27. Ryan Blaney: 52.036
28. Austin Cindric: 52.036
29. Erik Jones: 52.075
30. Ty Dillon: 52.086
31. Zane Smith: 52.112
32. John Hunter Nemechek: 52.131
33. Tyler Reddick: 52.146
34. Casey Mears: 52.263
35. Todd Gilliland: 52.264
36. Daniel Dye(i): 52.325
37. AJ Allmendinger: 52.456
38. Joey Gase(i): 52.570
39. Noah Gragson: 52.674
40. Gray Gaulding(i): 52.875