Team Penske Locks out Atlanta front row as Ryan Blaney takes Cup Series pole at EchoPark Speedway

HAMPTON, Ga. — Ryan Blaney take the NASCAR Cup Series pole at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta for the Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart as Team Penske locks out the front row.

This is his second pole of the season and the 14th career pole of his Cup Series career.

Team Penske opted for single-lap speed. In the first round of qualifying, their trio sat in the top three transfer spots. While Austin Cindric’s speed failed to transfer to the final round, the other two captured the top two starting positions.

Blaney will have the best view into turn one to add a sixth drafting track victory to his resume tomorrow night.

Joey Logano maintained his strong qualifying form in the package as Ford looks ready to snap their longest Cup Series winless streak in over a decade.

Kyle Larson put together two tidy laps to qualify in third. Austin Dillon will join him in the second row from fourth for his first top five start of the season.

Daniel Suarez had confidence in his qualifying setup as well as his race setup and will start fifth.

Hendrick Motorsports put two more entries into the top ten as Alex Bowman and defending winner, Chase Elliott, will start sixth and seventh.

Austin Cindric will start alongside the defending race winner from the fourth row in eighth.

Finally, Ross Chastain and Brad Keselowski round out the top ten qualifiers from the fifth row.

Notable Storylines

The Toyota camp went for race trim over qualifying trim. Their increased downforce means they will go on the offensive during the first stage.

Their opposite choice of improved handling rather than the single car speed of Team Penske and the Chevrolets has them near the back.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s highest qualified driver is last weeks winner Chase Briscoe. He will start 20th. The regular season point leader, Denny Hamlin, will start in 28th with his nearest rival and most recent Atlanta winner, Tyler Reddick, starts behind him in 31st.

BJ McLeod and Chad Finchum were the only open entrants for the race. Notably, Finchum spun on his build lap in the middle of turns 3 and 4.

All 38 entrants qualified for the race. Below is the starting lineup for the Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart.

Starting Lineup

1. Ryan Blaney: 30.815
2. Joey Logano: 30.851
3. Kyle Larson: 30.902
4. Austin Dillon: 30.904
5. Daniel Suarez: 30.910
6. Alex Bowman: 30.933
7. Chase Elliott: 30.937
8. Austin Cindric: 30.939
9. Ross Chastain: 30.976
10. Brad Keselowski: 31.019
11. Erik Jones: 31.027
12. Shane van Gisbergen: 31.031
13. Chris Buescher: 31.065
14. Carson Hocevar: 31.074
15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr: 31.080
16. Ty Dillon: 31.083
17. Josh Berry: 31.095
18. Michael McDowell: 31.100
19. Ryan Preece: 31.109
20. Chase Briscoe: 31.112
21. Todd Gilliland: 31.119
22. Bubba Wallace: 31.129
23. Ty Gibbs: 31.149
24. John Hunter Nemechek: 31.176
25. Connor Zilisch: 31.199
26. William Byron: 31.205
27. AJ Allmendinger: 31.212
28. Denny Hamlin: 31.258
29. Riley Herbst: 31.268
30. Austin Hill(i): 31.284
31. Tyler Reddick: 31.307
32. Cole Custer: 31.323
33. Christopher Bell: 31.319
34. Zane Smith: 31.331
35. Cody Ware: 31.415
36. Noah Gragson: 31.463
37. BJ McLeod: 31.743
38. Chad Finchum(i): No Time

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