Cole Custer (41) races Alex Bowman (48) during qualifying for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Photo: Chris Graythen/Getty Images
Cole Custer charged from ninth to second in the first of four 15-lap qualifying heat races on Saturday to earn the pole position for Sunday night’s Food City Dirt Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt track.
Custer surged from fifth to second moments after a restart with six laps left in the qualifying race. He finished second to Tyler Reddick, who took the lead from Ross Chastain on lap 5.
Custer scored 16 points under a format that combines passing points with points scored based on finishing position. In earning his first career NASCAR Cup Series Busch Light pole, Custer scored nine points for his runner-up run and seven passing points for advancing from ninth to second.
“The guys did a great job guessing right on the track,” Custer said. “It’s so much different than practice, and we hit on it. It’s just awesome, first career pole, I never thought I’d get my first career pole at a dirt race.”
Dirt track ace Christopher Bell will start from the outside of the front row after winning the second heat from the fifth starting position. Bell worked the bottom of the track adroitly and passed Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch for the lead on lap 10.
Bell earned 14 points for his effort to edge Reddick, who won the first heat from the fourth starting spot, worth 13 points. Reddick will start third with Chase Briscoe, Custer’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate to his outside.
Briscoe started seventh and finished third in Qualifying Race #2 to earn 12 points. Kyle Larson, whose dirt track resume includes victories in the Chili Bowl Nationals, Knoxville Nationals and Kings Royal, among others, earned the fifth starting position in an owner points tiebreaker over Justin Haley (sixth) and Ty Dillon (seventh), who won the third and fourth heats, respectively, both from second on the grid.
“I feel like we had the toughest heat race,” said Larson, who started sixth and came home third in Heat 4. “I was happy to get to third. My car doesn’t feel bad. The track will go through a lot of changes tomorrow, so just keep up with that and adjust your driving style accordingly.”
Alex Bowman, series leader Chase Elliott and defending race winner Joey Logano claimed the final three starting spots in the top 10.
NASCAR Cup Series
Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt – Bristol, TN
Food City Dirt Race – April 16, 2022
Saturday’s Qualifying Results
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
1. 41 Cole Custer Jacob Construction/HaasTooling Ford 0.000 0.000
2. 20 Christopher Bell DeWalt Toyota 0.000 0.000
3. 8 Tyler Reddick 3CHI Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
4. 14 Chase Briscoe HighPoint.com Ford 0.000 0.000
5. 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
6. 31 Justin Haley LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
7. 42 Ty Dillon Food City/Gain Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
8. 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
9. 9 Chase Elliott Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
10. 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 0.000 0.000
11. 18 Kyle Busch Mars Crunchy Cookie Toyota 0.000 0.000
12. 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
13. 45 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Toyota 0.000 0.000
14. 43 Erik Jones Food City/Tide Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
15. 17 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford 0.000 0.000
16. 47 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Kroger/Irish Spring Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
17. 34 Michael McDowell Love’s Travel Stops Ford 0.000 0.000
18. 6 Brad Keselowski Solomon Plumbing Ford 0.000 0.000
19. 24 William Byron Liberty University Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
20. 2 Austin Cindric # Discount Tire Ford 0.000 0.000
21. 99 Daniel Suarez Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
22. 23 Bubba Wallace Columbia Sportswear Company Toyota 0.000 0.000
23. 38 Todd Gilliland # First Phase Credit Card Ford 0.000 0.000
24. 21 Harrison Burton # Dex Imaging Ford 0.000 0.000
25. 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Dutch Boy Ford 0.000 0.000
26. 7 Corey LaJoie Nations Guard Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
27. 77 Justin Allgaier(i) BRANDT Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
28. 16 Noah Gragson(i) Chevy Truck Month Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
29. 15 J.J. Yeley(i) Georgia Strong/JAG Metals LLC Ford 0.000 0.000
30. 19 Martin Truex, Jr. Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota 0.000 0.000
31. 10 Aric Almirola Cummins/Rush Truck Centers Ford 0.000 0.000
32. 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Latte Ford 0.000 0.000
33. 1 Ross Chastain Advent Health Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
34. 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 0.000 0.000
35. 51 Cody Ware Nurtec ODT Ford 0.000 0.000
36. 78 Josh Williams(i) Alloy Employer Services Ford 0.000 0.000
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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