The NASCAR Cup Series drivers headed to Road America on the morning of July 4 with the goal of leading the field to the green flag. They took part in two qualifying sessions to determine the race’s starting order, but only one turned in the best performance. William Byron won the Busch Pole for the Jockey Made In America 250 Presented by Kwik Trip while several playoff bubble drivers cracked the top-12.
Byron and teammate Kyle Larson captured the top two spots on the starting order, but a flock of bubble drivers and part-timers joined them at the front of the pack. AJ Allmendinger took third, Tyler Reddick took fourth, and Austin Cindric rounded out the top five. Points leader Denny Hamlin posted the sixth-fastest time and joined Cindric on the third row.
While Allmendinger and Cindric can’t score Cup Series points, Reddick needs to continue making moves to remain in the playoff picture. He enters Road America weekend 13th in points, only three spots above the cutoff line.
The back half of the top 12 features several other drivers in drastic need of playoff points. Matt DiBenedetto will start seventh while rookie Ross Chastain joins him on the fourth row. Martin Truex Jr. and Alex Bowman are both locked into the playoffs on the fifth row, but Daniel Suarez and Chris Buescher are just below the cutoff line. They will start on the sixth row while searching for points.
Xfinity Series Regulars Impressed During Qualifying
GettyAustin Cindric practices for the Cup Series race at Road America.
Heading toward the Fourth of July weekend, there were two Xfinity Series regulars making the leap to the Cup Series for the main race. Team Penske’s Austin Cindric and Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger competed in the Henry 180 on July 3 and then moved over to Cup cars for the Jockey Made in America 250 Presented by Kwik Trip.
The drivers headed out on the four-mile road course one-by-one for the first session, which lasted 25 minutes. This early portion set the field from 13-40, as well as which drivers would head to the final round. The top 12 drivers had the opportunity to take their second trip around Road America while competing for the Busch Pole.
The duo impressed during the first qualifying session. They headed out after Byron and Larson, two of the best drivers in the Cup Series. However, Cindric and Allmendinger took the top two spots on the leaderboard, respectively, after their first laps and set themselves up to compete in the final round.
Cindric failed to capture the pole position during his second qualifying lap, but he still impressed with a time of 2:12.760. This outing was good enough for third initially, but his fellow Xfinity Series driver leapfrogged him. Allmendinger turned in a time of 2:12.668 seconds, finishing just ahead of Cindric. Reddick then captured fourth and dropped Cindric to fifth.
Cautions Ruined Multiple Qualifying Laps
The first qualifying session came to an end with multiple unhappy drivers. The reason is that they dealt with two separate caution flags that disrupted their laps. Chase Elliott, Chase Briscoe, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. all had to start near the rear of the field after on-track incidents that did not involve them.
The trio of drivers headed out onto Road America midway through the session with the goal of posting a fast lap and reaching the top 12. However, Kyle Tilley spun and brought out the caution flag with Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Briscoe, Kurt Busch, and Stenhouse all in the middle of their hot laps.
The group headed onto the track once again with roughly five minutes remaining in the session for another attempt. Hamlin and Busch completed their laps, but another caution flag disrupted Elliott, Briscoe, and Stenhouse. Bubba Wallace had to pull to the side of the track midway through his lap after something broke in the No. 23 Toyota Camry.
Elliott and Briscoe attempted to beat the clock with one final lap around Road America, but they failed to take the green flag before double zeroes showed on the clock. This bad luck dropped them to 34th and 35th, respectively.
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