John Hunter Nemechek will have a clear view of turn one for Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway after scoring the pole.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver edged fellow teammate Denny Hamlin by 0.009 seconds for his second NASCAR Xfinity Series pole of the season. Nemechek earned the pole at Darlington in May as well.
Last week’s Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway winner Justin Allgaier qualified third, followed by Cole Custer and Sam Mayer.
JR Motorsports’ strong qualifying session continued inside the top 10 with Josh Berry and Brandon Jones in seventh and eighth.
Two Kaulig Racing drivers made up the top 10 with Daniel Hemric qualifying sixth, with Chandler Smith slotting in 10th.
Xfinity Series points leader Austin Hill qualified his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet in ninth.
Two races remain before the Xfinity Series playoffs begin at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
Parker Kligerman holds the final playoff spot, with a 20-point advantage over Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst. Kligerman qualified 13th, with Herbst starting 15th.