Cole Custer will start from the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The Stewart-Haas Racing driver earned the first pole of his Cup career. It comes in his 84th start.
Custer earned the pole after finishing second in his qualifying heat race and earning the most passing points.
“The guys just did a great job guessing right on the track,” Custer said. “Obviously, it’s a totally different track than what we had yesterday, so we did a good job with that and was able to get to the top and make some good moves to try and pass some cars. Overall, just have to guess right on the track tomorrow, but it should start our race off a lot better.”
Custer never thought he’d get his first pole on dirt.
“I wouldn’t call myself a dirt racing expert whatsoever,” Custer said. “I did it when I was younger. I raced some Ford Focus midgets when I was in my early teens and I always loved dirt, but I wouldn’t say that I’m an expert. I’m nowhere near Kyle Larson, so getting my first pole at a dirt race is pretty crazy.”
Christopher Bell will start second.
The top five is completed by Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe and Kyle Larson.
Click here for the starting lineup.
Heat Race 1
Reddick won the first 15-lap race, winning over Custer. Custer earned the most passing points after starting in ninth, giving him a total of 16 points.
Reddick, who started fourth, passed Ross Chastain on the outside to take the lead with 11 laps to go.
Ryan Blaney spun to bring out the caution with six laps to go.
On the restart, Chastain spun his tires and fell to fourth as Custer moved into second.
Chastain spun on the last lap and finished last.
Results
Heat Race 2
Bell won the second race over Kyle Busch after starting fifth. That gave him 14 total points.
Bell passed Busch for the lead with six laps to go.
Daniel Suarez went for a spin with 11 laps to go to bring out the caution. He finished seventh.
Kevin Harvick, who started first, dropped all the way to eighth out of nine cars.
Results
Heat Race 3
Justin Haley dominated, leading all 15 laps and winning by 2.5 seconds over Joey Logano.
Denny Hamlin, who was fastest in Friday’s final practice session, started fifth but finished last in ninth.
Results
Heat Race 4
Ty Dillon won after leading ever lap and holding off Elliott and Larson.
Larson finished third after starting sixth, giving him 11 total points.
Results