NASCAR Cup Series at Gateway starting lineup: Chase Briscoe wins first career pole

Chase Briscoe won the pole for the Enjoy Illinois 300 on Saturday afternoon, earning the top starting spot for the Cup Series’ inaugural race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. Briscoe posted a lap of 32.544 (138.274 mph), beating Austin Cindric for his first ever pole. 

Briscoe is the fifth driver to win his first career pole this season, joining Cindric (Fontana), Christopher Bell (Las Vegas), Cole Custer (Bristol), and Chris Buescher (Dover). Briscoe started on the pole earlier this year at Atlanta, but only by virtue of NASCAR’s qualifying algorithm after time trials were rained out.

Friday’s practice session and Saturday’s qualifying session featured two drivers from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series making one-off appearances in Cup. Zane Smith, who is filling in as the driver of RFK Racing’s No. 17 while Chris Buescher is out with COVID-19, qualified 32nd for what will be his Cup Series debut. Series champion Ben Rhodes drove Kaulig Racing’s No. 16 in practice in place of A.J. Allmendinger, who is racing in the Xfinity Series at Portland International Raceway on Sunday.

Rhodes, however, crashed in Turn 3 during practice and did not make a qualifying attempt on Saturday while his crew repaired the car that Allmendinger will drive in Sunday’s race. Parker Kligerman also did not make a qualifying attempt after an issue in practice, as his car caught fire after suffering a mechanical issue.

Enjoy Illinois 300 starting lineup

1. #14 – Chase Briscoe
2. #2 – Austin Cindric (R)
3. #20 – Christopher Bell
4. #8 – Tyler Reddick
5. #12 – Ryan Blaney
6. #11 – Denny Hamlin
7. #22 – Joey Logano
8. #10 – Aric Almirola
9. #21 – Harrison Burton (R)
10. #1 – Ross Chastain
11. #45 – Kurt Busch
12. #18 – Kyle Busch
13. #19 – Martin Truex Jr.
14. #41 – Cole Custer
15. #5 – Kyle Larson
16. #9 – Chase Elliott
17. #34 – Michael McDowell
18. #23 – Bubba Wallace
19. #7 – Corey LaJoie
20. #4 – Kevin Harvick
21. #43 – Erik Jones
22. #38 – Todd Gilliland (R)
23. #99 – Daniel Suarez
24. #24 – William Byron
25. #48 – Alex Bowman
26. #42 – Ty Dillon
27. #47 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
28. #31 – Justin Haley
29. #3 – Austin Dillon
30. #6 – Brad Keselowski
31. #51 – Cody Ware
32. #17 – Zane Smith
33. #77 – Josh Bilicki
34. #78 – B.J. McLeod
35. #16 – A.J. Allmendinger
36. #15 – Parker Kligerman