AJ Allmendinger leads qualifying at Bristol for 1st NASCAR Cup pole in 10 years

AJ Allmendinger upstaged the NASCAR Cup Series playoff drivers at Bristol Motor Speedway, capturing the pole for Saturday night’s first-round cutoff race on the 0.533-mile oval. The Kaulig Racing driver qualified first for the first time in 10 years, turning a 15.117-second lap (126.930 mph) on Friday in his No. 16 Chevrolet. With his fifth career pole in a Cup race and first since August 2015 at Watkins Glen, the 43-year-old Allmendinger became the oldest driver to win a pole at Bristol since Mark Martin, who was 50 in 2009.