BRISTOL, Tenn. — Ryan Blaney will lead the Cup Series field to the green flag on Sunday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway.
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The 2023 Cup Series champion won the pole for the Food City 500 with a lap of 15.101 seconds. This marks the 13th pole win of his career and his first of the season. He also won the pole for the 2024 spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
MORE: Food City 500 starting lineup
"I just kinda got free Lap 1, landing into (Turn) 1," Blaney told Fox Sports after a wild pole-winning run. "And then it was just kinda like, 'All right, gather yourself back up for 3 and 4 to try to get a second lap.
"And luckily, the rear tires came in better the second lap in 1 and 2, and then 3 and 4, I thought, were really good corners."
Tyler Reddick qualified second with a lap of 15.124 seconds. Reddick has never started better than 12th at the .533-mile Tennessee track.
The rest of the top 10 included Chase Briscoe (15.135), Riley Herbst (15.147), Ty Gibbs (15.164), Ross Chastain (15.175), Chris Buescher (15.190), Kyle Larson (15.192), Austin Cindric (15.200), and Carson Hocevar (15.201).
Questions remain heading into the Food City 500. Drivers will take on Bristol Motor Speedway with the 750-horsepower, low downforce package. They will also use a new tire compound designed to provide tire wear without wild swings based on the temperature.
Practice provided an idea about how the race will proceed, but drivers still don't know exactly what will happen. Will the tires wear at a high rate, or will a driver dominate while just leading the majority of laps?
Briscoe said that he believes this will be a track position race. He doesn't expect to have the excessive tire wear as last year's playoff race.
"I definitely think you could see a guy just kinda dominate," Briscoe told FanBuzz. "And it was kinda the same way in the Truck race last night.
"You could be a 15th-place car, and you get put in the lead and nobody can pass you as long as you don't miss the bottom. It will be very similar for us tomorrow."
