Chandler Smith gets first pole at Atlanta for Kaulig Racing
HAMPTON, GA. — Kaulig Racing earned their first pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway as Chandler Smith won the pole for Saturday night’s Alsco Uniforms 250.
Smith ran a lap of 32.127 seconds, 0.111 secs. ahead of John Hunter Nemechek.
This is Kaulig’s first Xfinity Series pole on a drafting track since Daniel Hemric’s pole in the 2022 season opener at Daytona. Hemric led a race-high 38 laps but finished 28th.
This is also Chandler Smith’s second Xfinity Series pole and first since Las Vegas in March.
In the last five Xfinity Series races where a Kaulig driver won the pole, that driver has led the most laps four times, including en route to three wins.
The top 10 qualifiers were: Smith, Nemechek, Sammy Smith, Josh Berry, Sam Mayer, Riley Herbst, Cole Custer, Jeremy Clements, Sheldon Creed, Austin Hill.
Chandler Smith’s teammates Daniel Hemric and Justin Haley qualified 11th and 13th.
However, they’ll start ahead of Creed and Hill.
Each Richard Childress Racing driver had drivetrain issues, forcing them out of the final round of qualifying and to the rear of the field.
They’ll start behind Greg Van Alst, who will make his Xfinity Series debut after sliding during his lap.
They’ll go green in the Alsco Uniforms 250 tonight at 8 p.m. ET (Broadcast: USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90).
The full lineup is here:
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com