There are thrills, spills and everything in between when racers trade the open space of a superspeedway for the tight turns and close quarters of the half-mile Bristol Motor Speedway.
It’s an experience unlike any other in the sport. And with just one race left before the playoff field is cut from 16 drivers to 12, competitors have to show a willingness to go that extra mile (no pun intended) to cement their spot in the next round of the postseason.
It’s hard to look past short-track dynamos like Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney in this year’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race. Hamlin and Larson have combined for six top-two finishes at the 0.533-mile track. And Blaney, despite never nabbing a win on the Bristol concrete, has led significant number of laps on it — 45 circuits last year and more than 100 on three other occasions.
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With that, here’s everything you need to know about the starting lineup for Saturday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway after Friday’s qualifying session.
Who won the pole for the NASCAR race at Bristol?
Aric Almirola, a non-playoff driver, took the pole for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway with a 14.946-second lap time in the final round of qualifying. He was 22 one-thousandths of a second faster than his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Chase Briscoe, who qualified second.
This is Almirola’s first pole of the season and the fourth of his career.
Final group results
Starting lineup for Bristol race
Stewart-Haas Racing will lead the 36-car field to green in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol, the final race of the Round of 16. Teammates Aric Almirola and Chase Briscoe qualified 1-2 for the 500-lap race. Briscoe needed a big qualifying effort; he came into the week nine points below the Round of 12 cut line.
Stewart-Haas’ Kevin Harvick qualified seventh. Harvick is last in the playoff standings, 35 points out of the 12th spot.
(P) Playoff driver.
