Earnhardt Jr. wins Atlanta Nationwide pole
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| Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
| Rhonda McCole/AR1.com |
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. earned his first NASCAR Nationwide Series pole in five years on Saturday, topping the field to claim the top spot for Saturday night's Degree V12 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
In only his seventh Nationwide Series start of the season, Earnhardt clicked off a lap of 174.121 mph in the no. 5 Chevrolet sponsored by the races' title sponsor, beating out Kevin Harvick for his tenth career series pole and his first since August of 2004.
David Ragan, Reed Sorenson and Kasey Kahne rounded out the top five in qualifying, which featured Sprint Cup drivers taking eight of the top-10 qualifying spots.
John Wes Townley spun out during his qualifying attempt and missed the field for Saturday night's race, along with Morgan Shepherd, Derrike Cope, J.C. Stout and Tony Ave.
Pete McCole from Atlanta Motor Speedway
Results
| POS | CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | SPEED | TIME | BEHIND |
| 1 | 5 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | Degree V12 | 174.121 | 31.840 | Leader |
| 2 | 33 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches | 173.940 | 31.873 | -0.033 |
| 3 | 6 | David Ragan | Ford | Discount Tire | 173.635 | 31.929 | -0.089 |
| 4 | 1 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | Miccosukee Resort & Gaming | 173.499 | 31.954 | -0.114 |
| 5 | 10 | Kasey Kahne | Toyota | Fritos | 173.315 | 31.988 | -0.148 |
| 6 | 42 | David Gilliland | Dodge | moveforever.com / arthritis.org | 173.212 | 32.007 | -0.167 |
| 7 | 99 | Trevor Bayne | Toyota | Aaron's Dream Machine | 172.931 | 32.059 | -0.219 |
| 8 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | NOS Energy Drink | 172.845 | 32.075 | -0.235 |
| 9 | 198 | Paul Menard | Ford | Richmond / Menards | 172.802 | 32.083 | -0.243 |
| 10 | 91 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | MSRP Motorsports | 172.775 | 32.088 | -0.248 |
| 11 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | GameStop | 172.640 | 32.113 | -0.273 |
| 12 | 60 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Save-A-Lot | 172.544 | 32.131 | -0.291 |
| 13 | 27 | Jason Keller | Ford | Scott Tissue / Wal-Mart | 172.302 | 32.176 | -0.336 |
| 14 | 49 | Mark Green | Chevrolet | GetMoreVacations.com | 172.142 | 32.206 | -0.366 |
| 15 | 29 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Holiday Inn / Holiday Inn Express | 172.051 | 32.223 | -0.383 |
| 16 | 32 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | Dollar General | 171.742 | 32.281 | -0.441 |
| 17 | 178 | Kevin Lepage | Dodge | Derrike Cope Inc. | 171.116 | 32.399 | -0.559 |
| 18 | 70 | Shelby Howard | Chevrolet | Foretravel Motorcoach | 170.911 | 32.438 | -0.598 |
| 19 | 88 | Brad Keselowski | Chevrolet | Delphi | 170.590 | 32.499 | -0.659 |
| 20 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | CitiFinancial | 170.585 | 32.500 | -0.660 |
| 21 | 62 | Brendan Gaughan* | Chevrolet | 5-Hour Energy Extra Strength | 170.140 | 32.585 | -0.745 |
| 22 | 07 | Chase Austin | Chevrolet | Cavi Clothing / Macy's | 170.051 | 32.602 | -0.762 |
| 23 | 196 | Michael McDowell* | Dodge | Fischer Honda | 169.978 | 32.616 | -0.776 |
| 24 | 15 | Michael Annett* | Toyota | Pilot Travel Centers | 169.967 | 32.618 | -0.778 |
| 25 | 66 | Steve Wallace | Chevrolet | US Fidelis | 169.619 | 32.685 | -0.845 |
| 26 | 23 | Robert Richardson Jr. | Chevrolet | Mahindra Tractors | 169.604 | 32.688 | -0.848 |
| 27 | 90 | Johnny Chapman | Chevrolet | MSRP Motorsports | 169.500 | 32.708 | -0.868 |
| 28 | 177 | Peyton Sellers | Chevrolet | SFP | 169.495 | 32.709 | -0.869 |
| 29 | 40 | Scott Wimmer | Chevrolet | Stop Repair Bills.com | 169.453 | 32.717 | -0.877 |
| 30 | 05 | Casey Atwood | Ford | 31-W Insulation / CertainTeed | 169.262 | 32.754 | -0.914 |
| 31 | 234 | Tony Raines | Dodge | Long John Silver's | 169.055 | 32.794 | -0.954 |
| 32 | 11 | Kelly Bires | Toyota | Ridemakerz | 169.050 | 32.795 | -0.955 |
| 33 | 12 | Justin Allgaier* | Dodge | Verizon Wireless | 168.829 | 32.838 | -0.998 |
| 34 | 24 | Eric McClure | Ford | Hefty | 168.711 | 32.861 | -1.021 |
| 35 | 47 | Chase Miller | Toyota | Construction Jobs.com | 168.301 | 32.941 | -1.101 |
| 36 | 87 | Mike Bliss | Chevrolet | NEMCO Motorsports | 167.280 | 33.142 | -1.302 |
| 37 | 01 | Mike Wallace | Chevrolet | Sun-Drop | 167.199 | 33.158 | -1.318 |
| 38 | 61 | Matt Carter | Ford | Bob Maddox Heat & Air | 166.807 | 33.236 | -1.396 |
| 39 | 28 | Kenny Wallace | Chevrolet | U.S. Border Patrol | 166.752 | 33.247 | -1.407 |
| 40 | 38 | Jason Leffler+ | Toyota | Great Clips | 164.501 | 33.702 | -1.862 |
| 41 | 81 | Bobby Hamilton Jr.+ | Dodge | D.H. Griffin Companies | 163.328 | 33.944 | -2.104 |
| 42 | 26 | Brian Keselowski+ | Dodge | Fischer Honda | 161.538 | 34.320 | -2.480 |
| 43 | 150 | Jeremy Clements | Chevrolet | Saxon Group / Boaty's Produce, Inc. | 168.860 | 32.832 | -0.992 |
| Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| 44 | 173 | Derrike Cope | Dodge | Derrike Cope Inc. | 168.434 | 32.915 | -1.075 |
| 45 | 89 | Morgan Shepherd | Chevrolet | Lagina Plumbing / Eldora Speedway | 168.000 | 33.000 | -1.160 |
| 46 | 09 | John Wes Townley* | Ford | Zaxby's | 155.255 | 35.709 | -3.869 |
| 47 | 0 | J C Stout | Chevrolet | NuTone Heating & Cooling Products | – | – | – |
| 48 | 52 | Tony Ave | Chevrolet | Means Racing | – | – | – |
+ Set by Owner Points
* Denotes Rookie