Qualifying report

NASCAR Cup Bristol II

Alex Bowman leads Hendrick 1-2-3 in NASCAR Cup qualifying at Bristol

Hendrick trio have a chance to score stage points and control the race in the Round of 16 finale at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Nick DeGroot

Edited: Sep 21, 2024, 2:04 AM

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Alex Bowman topped the speed charts with a 15.142s lap, earning his first pole position of the 2024 season. He beat teammate William Byron by 0.003s, but due to the way the groups are split, another Hendrick driver -- Kyle Larson -- will start on the front row.

"Studied hard and worked hard to come back here and be better," said Bowman, who enters this elimination race 41 points above the cut-line. "We were okay in practice. I feel like I struggled on top of (Turns) 1 and 2 a little, but had a really awesome car in qualifying. Just really proud of everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. They gave me a really fast No. 48 Camaro. That's what mattered today."

Beyond the Hendrick trio, two drivers in the elimination zone will start inside the top-five with Martin Truex Jr. starting fourth and Chase Briscoe fifth. Christopher Bell was sixth, Carson Hocevar seventh, Denny Hamlin eighth, Corey LaJoie ninth, and Chase Elliott tenth.

Playoff drivers starting outside the top-ten: Ty Gibbs 13th; Tyler Reddick 15th; Joey Logano 20th; Ryan Blaney 22nd; Brad Keselowski 23rd; Austin Cindric 27th; Harrison Burton 34th; Daniel Suarez 35th.

Only playoff drivers advanced from Group A qualifying with Bell, Truex, Hamlin, Larson, and Elliott. Elliott actually ran an identical lap time to Ross Chastain, who missed out in the tiebreaker (points).

Bowman, Briscoe, and Byron were the only playoff drivers to advance from Group B qualifying. Spire Motorsports was impressive with both LaJoie and Hocevar moving forward into the pole round.

Qualifying went without incident, but there was a dramatic moment during the first round as Bell nearly lost control before jumping to the top of the charts on an early hot lap.

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