Jesse Love has been prolific at qualifying through his NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series career at Talladega Superspeedway, and that trend continued on Saturday. Love took the pole position for The Progress Group 250 at the 2.66-mile superspeedway, but it wasn't a slam-dunk runaway qualifying effort. In fact, Love had to sweat it out a little bit.
Jake Finch, the fastest driver in the opening round of qualifying and the final car to go out on track in round 2, nearly turned an identical lap time to Love's pole-winning lap. Finch slotted in just 0.002 seconds off of Love's lap.
By nearly the narrowest of margins, Love was able to extend his consecutive poles streak at Talladega to five. Superspeedway qualifying results are always a testament to the preparation by teams back at the shop, and Love couldn't be more proud of his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing group.
"I'm pretty confident in our Samsara Chevrolet. I'm really proud of everybody back at ECR engines, and the fab shop back in Welcome, North Carolina," Love said. "We've got a great group of people around us, and having a lot of fun. This 2 car, man, it's such a pleasure to drive."
The pole on Saturday marked the 12th of Love's O'Reilly Auto Parts Series career, now, the defending series champion and current point leader will look to extend his championship lead on Saturday afternoon.
"I'm looking forward to the challenge that it's going to be today," Love explained. "There's a lot of JR Motorsports guys up there that I know want one here. So, I'm ready for it. I'm excited for the challenge, and ready to fight back."
In just his seventh career start, Finch nearly collected his first pole position, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports. The driver was left kicking himself, as he felt he made some mistakes during his qualifying run.
"No, I didn't think I did good enough job," Finch admitted. "My out lap could have been a little bit better. I messed up my shift lights a little bit. But, gosh, I mean, even messing up and being that close, what a testament to this 9 team. The KOA Chevrolet is pretty quick, I just need to do my job from here on out."
Sam Mayer, who is trying to close back in on the championship fight, will start from the third position in Saturday's race, as he slotted in ahead of fellow championship contenders Carson Kvapil, Austin Hill and Rajah Caruth.
Anthony Alfredo had an excellent qualifying effort, as he will start seventh in the No. 96 Viking Motorsports Chevrolet.
Brent Crews, William Sawalich and Corey Day rounded out the top-10 drivers on the starting grid for the race.
While the record books will show Day credited with a 10th-place starting position, the driver of the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet will have to drop to the rear of the field prior to the green flag in Saturday's race.
The No. 17 Chevrolet encountered an engine issue after the opening round of qualifying, which will result in the team making an engine change before the race. Day was unable to turn a lap in the second round of qualifying.
With 41 cars on the entry list this weekend, it meant that three drivers would unfortunately fail to lock into Saturday's race. The three drivers who will head home after the qualifying session are Lavar Scott, Carson Ware, and Patrick Emerling.
The Progress Group 250 at Talladega is set for 3:30 PM ET on Saturday, October 24. The race will be televised on The CW, and can be streamed on the ESPN App. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide the radio broadcast of the race.
The Progress Group 250 Starting Lineup
Pos | Car | Driver | Lap time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | Jesse Love (C) | 52.435 | 182.626 |
2 | 9 | Jake Finch | 52.437 | 182.619 |
3 | 41 | Sam Mayer (C) | 52.469 | 182.508 |
4 | 1 | Carson Kvapil (C) | 52.485 | 182.452 |
5 | 21 | Austin Hill (C) | 52.491 | 182.431 |
6 | 88 | Rajah Caruth (C) | 52.595 | 182.071 |
7 | 96 | Anthony Alfredo | 52.618 | 181.991 |
8 | 19 | Brent Crews # | 52.660 | 181.846 |
9 | 18 | William Sawalich | 52.704 | 181.694 |
10 | 17 | Corey Day (C) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
11 | 8 | Sammy Smith (C) | 52.778 | 181.439 |
12 | 00 | Sheldon Creed (C) | 52.785 | 181.415 |
13 | 42 | Nick Leitz (i) | 52.788 | 181.405 |
14 | 7 | Justin Allgaier (C) | 52.824 | 181.281 |
15 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | 52.839 | 181.230 |
16 | 20 | Brandon Jones (C) | 52.854 | 181.178 |
17 | 54 | Taylor Gray (C) | 52.894 | 181.041 |
18 | 4 | Caesar Bacarella | 52.903 | 181.011 |
19 | 24 | Harrison Burton | 52.927 | 180.928 |
20 | 02 | Ryan Ellis | 52.954 | 180.836 |
21 | 48 | Patrick Staropoli # | 53.016 | 180.625 |
22 | 92 | Josh Williams | 53.029 | 180.580 |
23 | 43 | Connor Mosack (i) | 53.032 | 180.570 |
24 | 91 | Mason Maggio | 53.045 | 180.526 |
25 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | 53.083 | 180.397 |
26 | 99 | Parker Retzlaff (C) | 53.100 | 180.339 |
27 | 26 | Dean Thompson | 53.101 | 180.336 |
28 | 55 | Joey Gase | 53.132 | 180.230 |
29 | 28 | Kyle Sieg | 53.138 | 180.210 |
30 | 53 | Will Rodgers | 53.217 | 179.942 |
31 | 71 | Leland Honeyman (i) | 53.302 | 179.656 |
32 | 27 | Jeb Burton | 53.311 | 179.625 |
33 | 32 | Daniel Dye (i) | 53.343 | 179.517 |
34 | 44 | Brennan Poole | 53.365 | 179.443 |
35 | 07 | Josh Bilicki | 53.488 | 179.031 |
36 | 31 | Blaine Perkins | 53.506 | 178.971 |
37 | 0 | Garrett Smithley | 53.947 | 177.508 |
38 | 87 | Lee Pulliam | 0.000 | 0.000 |
DNQ | 45 | Lavar Scott # | 53.317 | 179.605 |
DNQ | 47 | Carson Ware | 53.879 | 177.732 |
DNQ | 38 | Patrick Emerling (i) | 54.317 | 176.298 |
(C) indicates a Chase contender
# indicates a Rookie of the Year contender
(i) indicates a driver ineligible to score points
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