BROOKLYN, Mich. – In his 171st attempt, Bubba Wallace earned his first career NASCAR Cup Series pole on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
Wallace topped the final round of qualifying for Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400, with a top speed of 190.703 miles per hour.
“Bout time! Took me five years to get my first pole,” Wallace said. “It’s a testament to everybody at 23XI. Everybody on this No. 23 team, they’ve been doing a tremendous job all year long, really. Just haven’t had the finishes that we’ve deserved, but proud of everybody for just sticking through it.
“(There’s been) a lot of adversity on this team, but we keeping showing up ready to battle… Now, the real job is tomorrow, right? We know that’s a totally different ball game. So, a good starting spot for us, but we’ve gotta reset and get ready for tomorrow.”
The No. 23 team has been on an upswing as of late, with 3 top 10’s in the last 3 races, the longest streak of Wallace’s career.
Behind Wallace, the Joe Gibbs Racing duo of Christopher Bell and Kyle Busch completed the top-three to make it a Toyota sweep.
Team Penske’s Joey Logano and Austin Cindric rounded out the top five.