Alex Bowman, who just two weeks ago was desperately trying to dispel rumors that his spot was in jeopardy, will start the first elimination race of the NASCAR playoffs from pole position.
Bowman posted a lap of 126.720 mph on Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee to earn the fifth pole of his career. Bowman heads into Saturday night’s elimination race fourth in the Cup Series standings – the best of all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers.
Bowman made the playoffs by winning the Chicago road course race, which likely secured his spot in the No. 48 Chevrolet. Now that he’s in the playoffs, he’s untouchable and under contract with Hendrick through 2025.
Nevertheless, there were repeated rumors that he would no longer have a place at the end of the year, which Hendrick vehemently denied before the start of the playoffs.
In qualifying, Bowman defeated all three of his Hendrick teammates. Kyle Larson qualified second and will start alongside Bowman on Saturday night. William Byron qualified third.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. finished fourth, followed by Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe and Gibbs’ points leader Christopher Bell. Non-playoff driver Carson Hocevar was seventh, Gibbs’ Denny Hamlin was eighth, non-playoff driver Corey LaJoie was ninth and Hendrick’s Chase Elliott rounded out the top 10.
None of the Ford drivers made it into the top 10. The playoff drivers who did not qualify for the top 10 were Ty Gibbs (13th), Tyler Reddick (15th), Joey Logano (20th), Ryan Blaney (22nd), Brad Keselowski (23rd), Austin Cindric (27th), Harrison Burton (34th) and Daniel Suarez (35th).
The final four in the standings heading into elimination are Hamlin, Keselowski, Truex and Burton. Losing three-time Daytona 500 winner Hamlin or 2012 champion Keselowski and 2017 champion Truex would knock some of NASCAR’s top names out of the title race.
