Chandler Smith will lead the NASCAR Xfinity Series field to the green flag Saturday afternoon at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
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The playoff driver won the pole with a lap time of 33.067 seconds. This is Smith's sixth career pole and his third of the season. Smith's best finish after starting from the pole is second at Daytona and New Hampshire.
MORE: Smith wins pole, full Xfinity lineup
Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Sheldon Creed qualified second with a qualifying time of 33.165 seconds. Aric Almirola (33.18 seconds), Cole Custer (33.219 seconds), and Justin Allgaier (33.22 seconds) rounded out the top five.
AJ Allmendinger, the man who punched his ticket to the Championship 4 last weekend, qualified sixth with a lap of 33.298 seconds. Sam Mayer in ninth (33.461 seconds) and Sammy Smith in 10th (33.473 seconds) were the other playoff drivers who qualified inside the top 10.
On. The. Pole. @CSmith_Racing will start P1 tomorrow afternoon @HomesteadMiami! pic.twitter.com/HtYgopVtyb
— Joe Gibbs Racing (@JoeGibbsRacing) October 25, 2024
Two playoff drivers missed the top 10 in qualifying. Richard Childress Racing teammates Jesse Love (33.532 seconds) and Austin Hill (33.562 seconds) qualified 14th and 16th, respectively.
A pair of drivers making their Homestead debut with double-duty schedules qualified next to each other. William Sawalich qualified 12th for his first Xfinity race shortly after qualifying 20th for the Truck Series race.
Connor Zilisch qualified 13th for the Xfinity race after qualifying 16th for the Truck Series race.
The qualifying position is significant for Smith, who seeks his first top-five finish at the 1.5-mile Florida track. He enters the playoff weekend as the final driver above the cutline. He has only an eight-point cushion.
Scoring stage points could help the Joe Gibbs Racing driver build his advantage over both Hill and Love, who enter the weekend below the cutline. Hill is eight points behind Smith while Love is 13 points behind.
The Xfinity Series race caps off Saturday's doubleheader. CW Network will provide coverage at 3:30 p.m. ET. SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and MRN will have the radio call for the race.
