Michael McDowell earns first NASCAR Cup Series pole in 467th start
Michael McDowell earned his first pole in the NASCAR Cup Series, putting him up front for what is set to be his 467th start.
Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway will begin with McDowell and Joey Logano on the front row.
It’s an inverse of the Daytona 500 when Logano won the pole and McDowell started second.
The veteran also earned the first pole for Front Row Motorsports since David Gilliland won the pole for the July 2014 Coke Zero Sugar 400.
McDowell’s pole is a little different. Gilliland’s pole was earned during group qualifying while McDowell earned the pole in a single-car run.
AMBETTER HEALTH 400 AT ATLANTA STARTING LINEUP
- Michael McDowell
- Joey Logano
- Kyle Busch
- Todd Gilliland
- Kyle Larson
- Ryan Blaney
- Chris Buescher
- Austin Cindric
- Chase Briscoe
- Austin Dillon
- William Byron
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Denny Hamlin
- Josh Berry
- Noah Gragson
- Harrison Burton
- Alex Bowman
- Bubba Wallace
- Tyler Reddick
- Ryan Preece
- Ross Chastain
- Christopher Bell
- Daniel Suarez
- Brad Keselowski
- Ty Gibbs
- Daniel Hemric
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Chase Elliott
- Zane Smith
- Josh Williams
- Justin Haley
- Corey LaJoie
- Kaz Grala
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Carson Hocevar
- BJ McLeod
- Erik Jones
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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