MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Martin Truex Jr. is set to lead the starting lineup in his final start at Martinsville Speedway.
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The Joe Gibbs Racing driver, who will retire after the season finale at Phoenix, won the pole with a lap of 19.686 seconds. This is his 24th career pole win and his first of the season. Truex also won the pole for last season's elimination race at Martinsville.
Chase Elliott, who seeks another trip to the Championship 4, qualified second with a lap of 19.758 seconds. He was followed by teammate William Byron (19.735 seconds), Chase Briscoe (19.767 seconds), and Ty Gibbs (19.743 seconds).
MORE: Truex wins pole, full starting lineup
The other drivers in the top 10 were Harrison Burton in sixth (19.807 seconds), Alex Bowman in seventh (19.744 seconds), Ryan Preece in eighth (19.831 seconds), Kyle Larson in ninth (19.809 seconds), and Austin Dillon in 10th (19.856 seconds).
Byron, Elliott, and Larson were the only three playoff drivers who reached the second round of qualifying on Saturday afternoon. No members of this trio have a secure spot in the championship race.
Joey Logano, who took the first Championship 4 spot, missed the final round of qualifying. His lap of 19.795 seconds was only good enough for 12th.
Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney qualified 14th with a lap of 19.796 seconds. Christopher Bell then qualified 16th with a lap of 19.801 seconds.
Tyler Reddick qualified 31st after losing grip and sliding through one of the turns. This killed his momentum heading into his second lap.
Denny Hamlin was the lone playoff driver who did not post a qualifying lap. A chunk of rubber got stuck in the throttle body, which sent the No. 11 hard into the outside wall. The team avoided going to a backup car but spent the rest of Saturday making repairs to the car.
The Round of 8 elimination race will take place Sunday at 2 p.m. ET on NBC. Pre-race coverage will begin at 1:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
