NASCAR
Alex Bowman Officially Cleared To Race NASCAR Cup Event At Bristol
Apr 10, 2026
Ryan Blaney has done it; he has scored the pole position for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. The driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse was able to turn a lap time 0.023 seconds quicker than Tyler Reddick, which allowed him to take the pole.
Blaney's pole-winning lap around the 0.533-mile short track was a 15.101-second (127.064 mph) circuit.
While Reddick, who already has four race wins this season, narrowly missed the pole position, he will start from alongside Blaney in the front row of Sunday's Food City 500.
Chase Briscoe will start just behind the front row starters in the third position, and he'll be joined in row 2 by Riley Herbst, who was the surprise of the qualifying session with a fourth-place run.
Ty Gibbs, Ross Chastain, Chris Buescher, Kyle Larson, Austin Cindric, and Carson Hocevar rounded out the top-10 qualifiers for Sunday's race.
Photo Credit: Jonathan McCoy | TobyChristie.com
Official Food City 500 Starting Lineup
| Pos | Car | Driver | Team | Lap time | Diff | Speed |
| 1 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske Discount Tire Ford | 15.101 | -- | 127.064 |
| 2 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing Comparion Insurance Toyota | 15.124 | 0.023 | 126.871 |
| 3 | 19 | Chase Briscoe | Joe Gibbs Racing Lance Toyota | 15.135 | 0.034 | 126.779 |
| 4 | 35 | Riley Herbst | 23XI Racing Monster Energy Zero Sugar Toyota | 15.147 | 0.046 | 126.679 |
| 5 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing Monster Energy Toyota | 15.164 | 0.063 | 126.537 |
| 6 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing Busch Light Fishing Chevrolet | 15.175 | 0.074 | 126.445 |
| 7 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing Trimble Ford | 15.19 | 0.089 | 126.32 |
| 8 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 15.192 | 0.091 | 126.303 |
| 9 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske Menards / Tarkett Ford | 15.2 | 0.099 | 126.237 |
| 10 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports Spectrum Chevrolet | 15.201 | 0.1 | 126.229 |
| 11 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing National Debt Relief Toyota | 15.225 | 0.124 | 126.03 |
| 12 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing WWE / Chumba Casino Toyota | 15.231 | 0.13 | 125.98 |
| 13 | 7 | Daniel Suarez | Spire Motorsports NationsGuard Chevrolet | 15.233 | 0.132 | 125.963 |
| 14 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing Rheem Toyota | 15.261 | 0.16 | 125.732 |
| 15 | 38 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports Aaron's Rent to Own Ford | 15.277 | 0.176 | 125.601 |
| 16 | 4 | Noah Gragson | Front Row Motorsports Long John Silver's Ford | 15.279 | 0.178 | 125.584 |
| 17 | 60 | Ryan Preece | RFK Racing Kroger / Muscle Milk Ford | 15.282 | 0.181 | 125.559 |
| 18 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 15.285 | 0.184 | 125.535 |
| 19 | 71 | Michael McDowell | Spire Motorsports Delaware Life Chevrolet | 15.291 | 0.19 | 125.486 |
| 20 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske Shell Pennzoil Ford | 15.311 | 0.21 | 125.322 |
| 21 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing Consumer Cellular Ford | 15.312 | 0.211 | 125.313 |
| 22 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet | 15.323 | 0.222 | 125.224 |
| 23 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Hyak Motorsports NOS Energy Drink Chevrolet | 15.331 | 0.23 | 125.158 |
| 24 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing Bass Pro Shops / Winchester Long Beard XR Chevrolet | 15.344 | 0.243 | 125.052 |
| 25 | 21 | Josh Berry | Wood Brothers Racing Motorcraft / Quick Lane Ford | 15.364 | 0.263 | 124.889 |
| 26 | 88 | Connor Zilisch | Trackhouse Racing Roto-Rooter Chevrolet | 15.368 | 0.267 | 124.857 |
| 27 | 48 | Justin Allgaier | Hendrick Motorsports Ally Chevrolet | 15.368 | 0.267 | 124.857 |
| 28 | 43 | Erik Jones | LEGACY MOTOR CLUB AdventHealth Toyota | 15.378 | 0.277 | 124.776 |
| 29 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing BankOZK Chevrolet | 15.389 | 0.288 | 124.686 |
| 30 | 41 | Cole Custer | Haas Factory Team Chevrolet | 15.404 | 0.303 | 124.565 |
| 31 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Dollar Tree Toyota | 15.467 | 0.366 | 124.058 |
| 32 | 10 | Ty Dillon | Kaulig Racing Ohio Logistics Chevrolet | 15.498 | 0.397 | 123.81 |
| 33 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Trackhouse Racing WeatherTech Chevrolet | 15.514 | 0.413 | 123.682 |
| 34 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports Valvoline Chevrolet | 15.554 | 0.453 | 123.364 |
| 35 | 34 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports Love's Travel Stops Ford | 15.593 | 0.492 | 123.055 |
| 36 | 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet | 15.613 | 0.512 | 122.898 |
| 37 | 66 | Chad Finchum | Garage 66 Brian King Roofing Ford | 15.711 | 0.61 | 122.131 |
