Brian Vickers has scored the pole position for the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in a session where using the draft to best effect brought about a mixed starting order.
In what was Michael Waltrip Racing’s first pole in five years, Vickers set a fastest lap of 315.639km/h (196.129 mph) in what is anticipated to be a race of highs and lows in as it ends the ‘Contender Round’ in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Four drivers will be eliminated from title contention following Talladega, leaving just eight remaining in the hunt.
Vickers’ pole position was his first since August 2009 and the 12th of his Sprint Cup career.
“It’s crazy,” said Vickers. “I thought with coming to three (laps) to go we had literally no shot. … I just tried not to wreck.”
Six-time series champion Jimmie Johnson will share the front row and he is one of the drivers needing to either win or finish near the front to keep his title hopes alive.
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AJ Allmendinger qualified third with Ryan Blaney — making his second Sprint Cup start — fourth ahead of Team Penske team-mate Brad Keselowski in fifth place.
Terry Labonte qualified an impressive ninth for the final start of his career in NASCAR’s top division.
Qualifying on the 2.66-mile speedway was the first for NASCAR’s premier series using a new format at restrictor-plate tracks.
Each knockout stage of multi-car qualifying was scheduled for five minutes, with the field being divided into two five-minute group sessions (determined by random draw) for the first elimination phase.
The rules change was intended to curb the tactic of drivers on the track at widely varying speeds, lagging behind for an aerodynamic pull or better positioning in the draft.
The format caught a lot of the top drivers out including Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon, who will start from the back of the grid.
Like Daytona, qualifying at Talladega is not expected to be a true representation of what will happen in the race with pack-drafting set to be the order of the day with cars going from the front to the back, and visa versa throughout the 500 mile journey.
On what will be his final start on a Sueprspeedway, Australia’s Marcos Ambrose will start from 27th.
“We went out for the second session and everyone was waiting to go out and draft,” said Ambrose.
“We all went out for one run, but it all depends on what cars are around you and the draft. Still, we have a good car and I’m not worried about Sunday. Starting positions aren’t as important here and we can definitely work our way to the front.”
QUALIFYING: GEICO 500 – Talladega Superspeedway
| POS. | CAR | DRIVER | MANUFACTURER | SPONSOR | MPH | BEST TIME | BEHIND |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 55 | Brian Vickers |  |
Aaron’s Dream Machine | 196.129 | 48.825 | Leader |
| 2 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson |  |
Lowe’s | 195.732 | 48.924 | –0.099 |
| 3 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | |
Scott Products | 195.496 | 48.983 | –0.158 |
| 4 | 12 | Ryan Blaney |  |
SKF | 194.015 | 49.357 | –0.532 |
| 5 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | |
Redd’s Wicked Apple Ale | 194.007 | 49.359 | –0.534 |
| 6 | 95 | Michael McDowell | |
Jordan Truck Sales | 193.693 | 49.439 | –0.614 |
| 7 | 33 | Travis Kvapil | |
Little Joe’s Autos Chevrolet | 193.603 | 49.462 | –0.637 |
| 8 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | |
Farmer’s Insurance | 193.498 | 49.489 | –0.664 |
| 9 | 32 | Terry Labonte | |
C&J Energy Services | 193.431 | 49.506 | –0.681 |
| 10 | 7 | Michael Annett | |
Golden Corral | 193.162 | 49.575 | –0.750 |
| 11 | 31 | Ryan Newman | |
Caterpillar | 191.302 | 50.057 | –1.232 |
| 12 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | |
Furniture Row | 190.981 | 50.141 | –1.316 |
| 13 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | |
No. 20 Home Depot Toyota | 193.415 | 49.510 | –0.685 |
| 14 | 23 | Alex Bowman | |
Dustless Blasting Toyota Camry | 193.376 | 49.520 | –0.695 |
| 15 | 99 | Carl Edwards | |
Subway | 193.291 | 49.542 | –0.717 |
| 16 | 21 | Trevor Bayne | |
Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center | 192.401 | 49.771 | –0.946 |
| 17 | 43 | Aric Almirola | |
Smithfield | 192.278 | 49.803 | –0.978 |
| 18 | 41 | Kurt Busch | |
Haas Automation | 192.096 | 49.850 | –1.025 |
| 19 | 13 | Casey Mears | |
No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS | 191.908 | 49.899 | –1.074 |
| 20 | 27 | Paul Menard | |
Moen / Menards | 191.773 | 49.934 | –1.109 |
| 21 | 38 | David Gilliland | |
Long John Silver’s | 190.985 | 50.140 | –1.315 |
| 22 | 26 | Cole Whitt | |
Bad Boy Mowers | 190.970 | 50.144 | –1.319 |
| 23 | 49 | Mike Wallace | |
Royal Teak Collection | 184.729 | 51.838 | –3.013 |
| 24 | 29 | Joe Nemechek | |
ToyotaCare | 193.423 | 49.508 | –0.683 |
| 25 | 16 | Greg Biffle | |
3M | 191.577 | 49.985 | –1.160 |
| 26 | 34 | David Ragan | |
Dockside Logistics | 191.420 | 50.026 | –1.201 |
| 27 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | |
Black & Decker | 191.214 | 50.080 | –1.255 |
| 28 | 10 | Danica Patrick | |
GoDaddy Breast Cancer Awareness | 191.149 | 50.097 | –1.272 |
| 29 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | |
Diet Mountain Dew | 191.134 | 50.101 | –1.276 |
| 30 | 40 | Landon Cassill | |
Carsforsale.com | 191.130 | 50.102 | –1.277 |
| 31 | 3 | Austin Dillon | |
Dow | 191.027 | 50.129 | –1.304 |
| 32 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | |
CESSNA | 190.818 | 50.184 | –1.359 |
| 33 | 83 | J.J. Yeley | |
Burger King / Dr. Pepper | 190.689 | 50.218 | –1.393 |
| 34 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | |
Pink Lemonade 5-hour Energy Benefiting LBBC | 190.681 | 50.220 | –1.395 |
| 35 | 66 | Michael Waltrip | |
MyAFibStory.com | 190.586 | 50.245 | –1.420 |
| 36 | 98 | Josh Wise | |
Dogecoin/Reddit.com | 190.507 | 50.266 | –1.441 |
| 37 | 14 | Tony Stewart | |
Bass Pro Shops / Mobil 1 | 189.286 | 50.590 | –1.765 |
| 38 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | |
#11 FedEx One Rate/Deliverminator Toyota | 188.270 | 50.863 | –2.038 |
| 39 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | |
Budweiser | 187.361 | 51.110 | –2.285 |
| 40 | 22 | Joey Logano | |
Shell Pennzoil | 177.399 | 53.980 | –5.155 |
| 41 | 18 | Kyle Busch | |
M&M’s Halloween | 177.120 | 54.065 | –5.240 |
| 42 | 42 | Kyle Larson | |
Energizer | 176.800 | 54.163 | –5.338 |
| 43 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | |
Axalta | 176.532 | 54.245 | –5.420 |
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