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: