NASCAR playoffs at Texas starting lineup: Brad Keselowski wins first pole with RFK Racing

Brad Keselowski won the pole for the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, posting a lap of 28.573 seconds (188.990 MPH) to earn his first pole of the 2022 season and his first since 2019 at Richmond. Keselowski’s pole is the 18th of his Cup career.

After Chris Buescher scored RFK Racing’s first win in five years last week at Bristol, Keselowski continued the team’s positive momentum by scoring his first pole as a driver for and co-owner of the team. It is the company’s second pole of the season after Buescher won the pole at Dover in May, but it marks the first pole for RFK Racing’s No. 6 car in over 10 years. The last pole for the No. 6 came in 2011, when David Ragan won the pole for the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis.

Two drivers were caught up in trouble in Texas’ treacherous high groove during practice, as Cody Ware and Erik Jones both went for spins during their respective practice runs. Ware got the worst of it, as he was not able to make a qualifying attempt after spinning off turn two and hitting the inside wall. Jones was much more fortunate following a spin off turn four, as he was able to return to the track for qualifying and clocked in at 27th.

Aric Almirola qualified 25th after being the only car to have multiple failures in pre-qualifying tech inspection on Friday. Almirola’s car failed inspection twice, leading to a loss of pit selection and the ejection of team engineer James Kimbrough.

Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 starting lineup

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