Jesse Love earns record fifth consecutive O’Reilly Series Talladega Pole

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Jesse Love sets a record fifth consecutive NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series pole at Talladega for the The Progress Group 250.

This is his third pole of the season and the 12th of his O’Reilly Series career.

Love cannot be denied pole at Talladega once again. He easily made the top ten in the opening round of the session in second, but the time set by his teammate Austin Hill in the middle of the second round seemed too fast to top.

Then fellow Chase driver Sam Mayer set a slightly higher benchmark which settled the No. 2 team down to run their stellar 52.433 lap time for the top spot.

The current Chase leader will start on the front row alongside Jake Finch in the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

Finch, previously an ARCA winner on these high-banks, took the top spot in the first round and nearly nabbed his first career pole from Jesse Love. In the end, it was .002 seconds too slow as he winds up second.

Sam Mayer nearly won last week in Phoenix and has another session spoiled by Love. He will start third with Carson Kvapil to his outside from fourth.

Austin Hill has not won a superspeedway race in the previous five starts and looks to end his dry spell from fifth. Rajah Caruth joins him on the third row from sixth.

Then, Anthony Alfredo and his Viking Motorsports No. 96 team can be prideful of their seventh place starting spot. They fully turnaround their superspeedway program their DNQ in the opening race of the season at Daytona.

The next two starters are both Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas. Brent Crews will make his Talladega debut from eighth with William Sawalich behind him in ninth.

Finally, Corey Day made the final round in tenth. Unfortunately, he will not start there. The team found an internal water leak in his engine during the second round engine warmup and did not complete a second lap.

They will have to replace the engine and start from the rear of the field for the race.

Notable Entrants

Six of the 12 Chase drivers qualified outside of the top ten. Sammy Smith, who won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race yesterday, will look to make it two Talladega wins on the weekend from 11th.

Then, Sheldon Creed will try and bounce back from his terrible Phoenix race as he starts 12th.

Next, Justin Allgaier has a tall task in order to retake the Chase lead from polesitter Jesse Love from 14th.

Then, the JGR duo of Brandon Jones and Taylor Gray will start 16th and 17th. Finally, Parker Retzlaff starts the furthest behind his Chase competitors in 26th.

41 entrants meant that three drivers were cut from the 38-car field for the race. Therefore, Patrick Emerling, Carson Ware, and Lavar Scott all miss the show.

Below is the starting lineup for the seventh Chase race for the O’Reilly Series from Talladega

Starting Lineup

1. Jesse Love: 52.433
2. Jake Finch: 52.437
3. Sam Mayer: 52.469
4. Carson Kvapil: 52.485
5. Austin Hill: 52.491
6. Rajah Caruth: 52.595
7. Anthony Alfredo: 52.618
8. Brent Crews: 52.660
9. William Sawalich: 52.704
10. Corey Day: No Time (Engine – Round 2)
11. Sammy Smith: 52.778
12. Sheldon Creed: 52.785
13. Nick Leitz(i): 52.788
14. Justin Allgaier: 52.824
15. Jeremey Clements: 52.839
16. Brandon Jones: 52.854
17. Taylor Gray: 52.894
18. Caesar Bacarella: 52.903
19. Harrison Burton: 52.927
20. Ryan Ellis: 52.954
21. Patrick Staropoli: 53.016
22. Josh Williams: 53.029
23. Connor Mosack(i): 53.032
24. Mason Maggio: 53.045
25. Ryan Sieg: 53.083
26. Parker Retzlaff: 53.100
27. Dean Thompson: 53.101
28. Joey Gase: 53.132
29. Kyle Sieg: 53.138
30. Will Rodgers: 53.217
31. Leland Honeyman Jr.: 53.302
32. Jeb Burton: 53.311
33. Daniel Dye(i): 53.343
34. Brennan Poole: 53.365
35. Josh Bilicki: 53.488
36. Blaine Perkins: 53.506
37. Garrett Smithley: 53.947
38. Lee Pullium: No Time

Going Home: Lavar Scott: 53.317, Carson Ware: 53.879, Patrick Emerling: 54.317