NASCAR at Talladega Superspeedway starting lineup: Michael McDowell on pole as Ford locks up top 3

Michael McDowell will start from the pole position in the NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 this Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway as he won his second pole of the season by turning a lap of 182.022 mph. This is an important accomplishment for McDowell, driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford, and a strong follow-up to his previous pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway. 

Ford dominates the front row of NASCAR qualifiers

This is the third time this season that a Ford driver has led the field at a drafting-style race. Qualifying second is another Ford driver, Austin Cindric, who will line up alongside McDowell on the front row. In third place was Todd Gilliland, McDowell’s teammate at Front Row Motorsports.

Related: NASCAR schedule: Races today, this weekend, track info, and how to watch

McDowell’s thoughts on pole position

During a post-qualifying interview conducted by Fox Sports, McDowell shared how thrilled he was to be leading the field.

“I’m just so proud of everybody at Front Row Motorsports, you know,” McDowell said. “This is a full team effort. We come down here to Superspeedways, we got front row at Daytona and then got the pole at Atlanta, and we just got that taste of it, like ‘Hey, we can do this.’

“We’ve had a lot of speed. I think we’ll be able to go out there tomorrow, score stage points, and just build some momentum going into the summer. Winning a race fixes everything, so the goal is to win a race.”

Talking with @Mc_Driver after his 2nd Cup Series pole of the season. #NASCARonFS1 pic.twitter.com/2sPiaPvhcX

— Regan Smith (@ReganSmith) April 20, 2024

Chevrolet and Toyota in the Top 10

Chevrolet’s Kyle Busch qualified in fourth place, whereas his teammate Austin Dillon of Richard Childress Racing took fifth place. Martin Truex Jr. posted the best result among Toyota drivers as he qualified in sixth. 

On another note, three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen, in his debut Cup start at Talladega, qualified 17th.

Related: NASCAR Cup drivers make case for restoring scoring pylons across the schedule

Kyle Larson to start at the back

One notable absence from the top qualifiers was Kyle Larson, who didn’t get to take a lap during Saturday’s qualifying session. His No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was disqualified from qualifying by NASCAR because of unapproved adjustments to the roof rails. Further penalties will be announced later in the week for Larson, who will start the race from the rear of the field on Sunday.

With a strong Ford presence at the front of the grid and a mix of Chevrolet and Toyota drivers in the top spots, the GEICO 500 race is set to start this Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.

Talladega Superspeedway Starting Lineup

1. #34 — Michael McDowell
2. #2 — Austin Cindric 
3. #38 — Todd Gilliland
4. #8 — Kyle Busch
5. #3 — Austin Dillon
6. #19 — Martin Truex Jr.
7. #22 — Joey Logano
8. #17 — Chris Buescher
9. #9 — Chase Elliott
10. #20 — Christopher Bell
11. #41 — Ryan Preece
12. #48 — Alex Bowman
13. #24 — William Byron
14. #23 — Bubba Wallace
15. #54 — Ty Gibbs
16. #21 — Harrison Burton
17. #16 — Shane van Gisbergen
18. #45 — Tyler Reddick
19. #31 — Daniel Hemric
20. #42 — John Hunter Nemechek
21. #12 — Ryan Blaney
22. #6 — Brad Keselowski
23. #11 — Denny Hamlin
24. #62 — Anthony Alfredo
25. #99 — Daniel Suarez
26. #14 — Chase Briscoe
27. #51 — Justin Haley
28. #43 — Erik Jones
29. #4 — Josh Berry
30. #71 — Zane Smith
31. #7 — Corey LaJoie
32. #1 — Ross Chastain
33. #47 — Ricky Stenhouse
34. #15 — Cody Ware
35. #77 — Carson Hocevar
36. #10 — Noah Gragson
37. #78 — BJ McLeod
38. #5 — Kyle Larson