Rookie Erik Jones won his first-career Monster Energy Cup Series pole Friday, grabbing the top position for Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops/NRA Night race.
NASCAR Bristol 2017 qualifying results: Erik Jones wins 1st Cup Series pole
The rookie driver for Furniture Row Racing won his first pole in his 27th series start.
Jones’ first pole came in his 27th series start and on the strength of 128.082 mph lap around the half-mile Tennessee oval. Kyle Larson (128.057 mph) qualified second, followed by Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kasey Kahne and Chase Elliott, with Matt Kenseth, who provisionally holds the final playoff transfer position, rounding out the top five.
“To do it at Bristol is pretty exciting,” Jones said.
Series points leader Martin Truex, Jones’ Furniture Row Racing teammate, starts sixth. Truex can clinch the regular season championship by leaving Bristol with a lead greater than 121 points. He currently leads second-place Larson by 129 points.
Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer, and Ryan Blaney completed the top 10 qualifiers.
Jones is winless on the season and needs a victory in one of the three remaining regular season races to make the 16-driver Cup Series playoffs. The 21-year-old has a best career-finish of third (twice), including last weekend at Michigan International Speedway.
”We had a good week last week, we’ve done a good job of keeping the momentum going so far,” Jones said. “Hoping for a good day tomorrow night. Obviously, real excited to get the race going now and see what we can do.”
Kyle Busch posted the quickest time in the first round of knockout qualifying, but then struggled to find speed in the subsequent session and qualified 18th. He had started no worse than seventh in his past six Bristol races.
Former Bristol winners Kurt Busch (25th-fastest), Kevin Harvick (29th) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (31st) all surprisingly struggled, not advancing past the first round. Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Busch and Harvick each own multiple wins Bristol, with Harvick the defending race-winner.
Earnhardt, who is retiring from full-time racing at the end of the season, scored his lone Bristol win in 2004. He started 30th in that race.
Timmy Hill was the lone driver who failed to earn a spot in the 40-car field.
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