Briscoe Claims Pole for Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Charlotte, NC – Chase Briscoe will lead the field to the green flag in the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 following a standout qualifying performance Saturday afternoon. Briscoe secured the pole position with a lap time of 29.532 seconds at an impressive speed of 182.852 mph, marking his first pole at Charlotte and fourth overall in his Cup Series career.
Briscoe reflected on his accomplishment, stating, “It’s pretty wild… to be able to lead the field to two crown jewel events. Tomorrow will be really special.” He expressed excitement for the race, particularly noting the significance of starting alongside a competitor racing in the upcoming Indy 500.
Kyle Larson will start alongside Briscoe on the front row, having qualified second at 182.729 mph. William Byron and Chris Buescher followed in third and fourth with speeds of 182.642 mph and 181.916 mph, respectively. AJ Allmendinger and John Hunter Nemechek rounded out the top six, both clocking in at 181.916 mph and 181.665 mph.
Notable qualifiers include:
- 7th: Ty Gibbs (181.531 mph)
- 8th: Noah Gragson (181.153 mph)
- 9th: Alex Bowman (181.123 mph)
- 10th: Christopher Bell (181.117 mph) – the defending champion of the rain-shortened event last year.
Tyler Reddick, who scraped the wall during his qualifying lap, earned 11th place. Jimmie Johnson made headlines by qualifying 17th for his 700th career start. Other notable qualifiers included Denny Hamlin (20th), Ryan Blaney (21st), and Chase Elliott (22nd). Kyle Busch, facing mechanical issues during practice, qualified 24th.
Connor Zilisch, making his first Cup Series start on an oval, qualified 33rd. Brad Keselowski and Carson Hocevar qualified 35th and 39th, respectively, with Hocevar showing promise earlier as the fastest in practice. Ross Chastain did not complete a qualifying lap due to a crash caused by a blown tire in practice, with his team working to repair his vehicle for Sunday’s race.
The Coca-Cola 600 is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, a key highlight in the motorsports calendar.
