Ryan Blaney hangs on to earn Ford another pole
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Ford continued their domination of qualifying in 2024 as they claimed the front row at Bristol with Ryan Blaney and Josh Berry.
Blaney will start Sunday’s Food City 500 on the pole. It is the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion’s 10th career pole.
The last time Blaney won a pole was in April 2022 at Richmond Raceway. On that day, he led 128 of 400 laps and finished seventh.
Blaney has finished worse than sixth after winning the pole just twice. The other time was at Phoenix in November 2017 when he finished 17th.
Blaney has never won a pole at Bristol. His first pole came in a treacherous session for almost the entire field.
“I don’t think any of us expected the track to change that much. It definitely caught us off-guard. I’m excited to get the pole. We’re off to a good start this weekend,” Blaney said.
Berry survived the session and qualified second. Before Saturday, his best start on a non-drafting-dependent track was 17th while filling in for Chase Elliott last March at Phoenix Raceway.
TOP-10 STARTERS: Blaney, Berry, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Chase Briscoe, Michael McDowell, William Byron, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson
Larson ran two laps in the first round and showed speed. It cost him in the final round, though, as he couldn’t even get a clean lap in and qualified 10th.
Larson fared much better than some drivers who had issues with grip in qualifying. The changing grip caught Phoenix top-5 finishers Chris Buescher and Ross Chastain out as they will start 34th and 36th this Sunday.
FULL LINEUP: NASCAR at Bristol: Odds, TV times, entry lists, results and more
MORE on QUALIFYING: Tricky track bites some Cup drivers in Bristol qualifying
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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