BRISTOL, Tenn. — AJ Allmendinger will lead the Cup Series field to the green flag for the first time since Watkins Glen International in 2015.
Videos by FanBuzz
The Kaulig Racing driver won the pole for Saturday night's Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. He posted a lap at 15.117 seconds. This marked his fifth career pole win, and his first Cup pole at a short track.
MORE: Allmendinger wins pole, full qualifying results
"I don't know, I closed my eyes in both of them," Allmendinger told TNT Sports about his laps. "So, I'm not really sure. Man, this Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevy in practice was pretty good, and this place is so tough to qualify.
"The first lap she stuck, and I looked down at the dash like, 'Ok, that's a pretty good lap. I'm gonna try for more in the second.' I know it's just qualifying, and we got 500 laps around this place, but to get a pole at Bristol, that's pretty awesome."
Ryan Blaney qualified second with a lap of 15.120 seconds. This set him up to score stage points early and further build a cushion to the Round of 12 cutline.
The rest of the top 10 included Austin Cindric (15.132), Ty Gibbs (15.142), Kyle Larson (15.148), Denny Hamlin (15.191), William Byron (15.206), Bubba Wallace (15.208), Christopher Bell (15.214), and Josh Berry (15.214).
The other playoff drivers in the field included Ross Chastain in 13th (15.239), Tyler Reddick in 14th (15.246), Alex Bowman in 15th (15.258), Chase Elliott in 16th (15.258), Joey Logano in 22nd (15.298), Austin Dillon in 23rd (15.332), Shane van Gisbergen in 28th (15.396), and Chase Briscoe in 31st (15.431).
The qualifying times do not fully tell the tale of the Friday evening session. Dillon, in particular, appeared to be en route to a top-10 finish, which would keep him close to Cindric in the cutline battle.
However, he had a big wiggle that sent him up toward the wall. He kept the car clean, but he lost crucial time.
A big moment for @austindillon3. 🫣 pic.twitter.com/e64bL09kqn
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 12, 2025
"I think we were just trying to get more out of the car and it didn't take it," Dillon told FanBuzz. "In practice, we made some good adjustments, pretty good on the long run really. I was just going for it right there and got loose once I got too high.
"So it was just a little tight. (Turns) 1 and 2 we were tracking pretty good. (Turns) 3 and 4 just went for it and got up and out of the groove and killed our second lap too. So, I mean, it sucks.
"We're just trying to make sure to get in the top 10 there and we were tracking sixth. So that was about all we had. We'll just keep working on it."
The Saturday night Cup Series playoff race will take place at 7:30 p.m. ET. USA Network will provide coverage as NASCAR cuts the playoff field to only 12 drivers.
