NASCAR News: Briscoe wins Cracker Barrel 400 pole at Nashville
Chase Briscoe claimed the NASCAR Busch Light Pole Award for the second consecutive week and third time of the season Saturday, besting his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin, by only 0.049 seconds in qualifying to earn the top starting position for Sunday’s Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway
Briscoe was among the very last to take to the 1.33-mile concrete oval turning in a track record lap of 164.395 mph in the No. 19 JGR Toyota. He and his teammate Hamlin – a two-time Nashville pole winner – will lead the field to green with current NASCAR Cup Series championship leader, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron in the No. 24 Chevrolet and 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick in the No. 45 Toyota, a row behind.
“I guess I just pushed my head farther forward as I was coming to the line,’’ Briscoe joked of the tight margin between the teammates to decide pole position.
“Honestly, I thought I ran a decent lap. Just a smooth lap and sometimes that’s what it takes. Obviously, a good Saturday for our Bass Pro Shops Toyota and obviously two weeks in a row we’ve been able to do that now, which is nice. Just need to put a Sunday together now.
“Track position is going to be really really big here tomorrow and that’s the name of the game most every place we go, certainly at this place. So hopefully we can maintain track position and keep it up front all day long.’’
Hamlin agreed about the significance of a good starting position.
“Certainly going to be a track position-type race, and with very minimum [tire] falloff, even in practice I kept having to back up from the guys that I was catching.’’ said Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 JGR Toyota. “Obviously great job for our Progressive Toyota team to get us a good starting spot and pit stall.
“I would have loved to have number one, but Chase just ruined that,’’ he added smiling. “Really happy for the whole Joe Gibbs Racing team to get the whole front row there. I definitely think we can race from that spot.’’
Reddick held the number one position on the speed chart for much of qualifying, only to be bested later by his team co-owner Hamlin, Briscoe, and Byron late in the session. Last year’s regular season champion Reddick was fastest in practice in both single-lap speed and 10-lap average speed.
Last week’s Charlotte race winner Ross Chastain – the 2023 Nashville winner – was fifth fastest in the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, followed by RFK Racing owner and driver Brad Keselowski, who set the fastest time among the Fords.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell, Team Penske’s Joey Logano and RFK’s Christopher Buescher rounded out the top-10 in qualifying.
Former race winner (2021) Kyle Larson will start 28th and his Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott, the 2022 Nashville winner, will roll off 11th.
Cracker Barrel 400 Qualifying Results
Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Time | Speed |
1 | 19 | Chase Briscoe | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 29.125 | 164.395 |
2 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Progressive Toyota | 29.174 | 164.119 |
3 | 24 | William Byron | Raptor High Heat Chevrolet | 29.307 | 163.374 |
4 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | Pinnacle Toyota | 29.308 | 163.368 |
5 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Busch Country Chevrolet | 29.310 | 163.357 |
6 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Solomon Plumbing Ford | 29.377 | 162.985 |
7 | 20 | Christopher Bell | DEWALT Toyota | 29.387 | 162.929 |
8 | 71 | Michael McDowell | Delaware Life Chevrolet | 29.397 | 162.874 |
9 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 29.434 | 162.669 |
10 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Kroger/OIKOS Ford | 29.443 | 162.619 |
11 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet | 29.477 | 162.432 |
12 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Chumba Casino Toyota | 29.526 | 162.162 |
13 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | NOS Energy Chevrolet | 29.588 | 161.822 |
14 | 43 | Erik Jones | Dollar Tree Toyota | 29.589 | 161.817 |
15 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford | 29.601 | 161.751 |
16 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Discount Tire Ford | 29.606 | 161.724 |
17 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 29.619 | 161.653 |
18 | 7 | Justin Haley | Garner Trucking Chevrolet | 29.623 | 161.631 |
19 | 60 | Ryan Preece | Trimble Ford | 29.635 | 161.566 |
20 | 21 | Josh Berry | Freightliner Ford | 29.651 | 161.479 |
21 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Toys for Tots Chevrolet | 29.657 | 161.446 |
22 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Interstate Batteries Toyota | 29.658 | 161.440 |
23 | 88 | Shane Van Gisbergen # | Red Bull Chevrolet | 29.659 | 161.435 |
24 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 29.670 | 161.375 |
25 | 8 | Kyle Busch | zone Chevrolet | 29.732 | 161.039 |
26 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet | 29.754 | 160.920 |
27 | 38 | Zane Smith | Mystik Lubricants Ford | 29.766 | 160.855 |
28 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 29.778 | 160.790 |
29 | 41 | Cole Custer | HaasTooling.com Ford | 29.807 | 160.633 |
30 | 4 | Noah Gragson | Rush Truck Centers Ford | 29.820 | 160.563 |
31 | 10 | Ty Dillon | Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet | 29.824 | 160.542 |
32 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet | 29.884 | 160.220 |
33 | 67 | Corey Heim(i) | Chief’s Toyota | 29.896 | 160.155 |
34 | 51 | Cody Ware | Arbys Ford | 29.951 | 159.861 |
35 | 34 | Todd Gilliland | Love’s Travel Stops Ford | 29.996 | 159.621 |
36 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | DriveValue.com Toyota | 30.023 | 159.478 |
37 | 35 | Riley Herbst # | Monster Energy Toyota | 30.160 | 158.753 |
38 | 44 | JJ Yeley(i) | Fanatics Sportsbook Chevrolet | 30.443 | 157.278 |
39 | 66 | Chad Finchum | Aires Ford | 31.729 | 150.903 |