NASCAR Cup Series: Kurt Busch takes pole for 2018 1000Bulbs.com 500

Kurt Busch took the pole position for the fifth race of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, the 1000Bulbs.com 500, at Talladega Superspeedway.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kurt Busch took the pole position for the 1000Bulbs.com 500, which is the 31st race of the 36-race 2018 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, the fifth race of the 10-race playoffs and the second race of the three-race round of 12, the second of four races in the playoffs.

Busch took the pole position for the 188-lap race around the four-turn, 2.66-mile (4.281-kilometer) Talladega Superspeedway oval in Lincoln, Alabama by recording a top lap time of 48.906 seconds (195.804 miles per hour) in his #41 Ford in the second and final qualifying session. This pole position is Busch’s fifth of the season and the 27th of his Cup Series career.

All four Stewart-Haas Racing drivers qualified in the top four for the race. Clint Bowyer qualified in second place in his #14 Ford while Kevin Harvick qualified in third in his #4 Ford and Aric Almirola qualified in fourth in his #10 Ford.

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Assuming that these four drivers can hold their positions at the start of the race, this race will be the second consecutive race during which all four Stewart-Haas Racing drivers have run in the top four at the same time, as they also did so in this past Sunday’s race at Dover International Speedway.

All four Hendrick Motorsports drivers qualified from fifth through eighth place, meaning that just two teams will be represented on the first four rows of the starting grid for tomorrow’s race.

Chase Elliott is the highest qualifying Hendrick Motorsports driver and Chevrolet driver of the race. He qualified in fifth place in his #9 Chevrolet. His teammates Jimmie Johnson, Alex Bowman and William Byron are set to round out the top eight on the starting grid after qualifying in sixth, seventh and eight in their #48 Chevrolet, #88 Chevrolet and #24 Chevrolet, respectively.

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin are the highest qualifying Toyota drivers of the race. They qualified in ninth and 10th place in their #18 Toyota and #11 Toyota, respectively.

The other two drivers who made it into the second and final round of qualifying were Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. and Roush Fenway Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. They qualified in 11th and 12th place in their #78 Toyota and #17 Ford, respectively.

Of the drivers who qualified in the top 12 for the race, only Johnson, Byron, Hamlin and Stenhouse Jr. are not round of 12 drivers. The other four round of 12 drivers who did not qualify in the top 12 are Team Penske teammates Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano as well as Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson. They qualified in 18th, 19th, 20th and 34th place in their #2 Ford, #12 Ford, #22 Ford and #42 Chevrolet, respectively.

Of the 41 drivers who attempted to qualify for the race, 40 did so. Obaika Racing’s David Starr was the only driver who attempted to qualify but failed to do so.

Here are the full qualifying results for the 2018 1000Bulbs.com 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Qualifying Results
1st – Kurt Busch
2nd – Clint Bowyer
3rd – Kevin Harvick
4th – Aric Almirola
5th – Chase Elliott
6th – Jimmie Johnson
7th – Alex Bowman
8th – William Byron
9th – Kyle Busch
10th – Denny Hamlin
11th – Martin Truex Jr.
12th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
13th – Daniel Suarez
14th – Michael McDowell
15th – Erik Jones
16th – David Ragan
17th – Darrell Wallace Jr.
18th – Brad Keselowski
19th – Ryan Blaney
20th – Joey Logano
21st – Austin Dillon
22nd – Ryan Newman
23rd – A.J. Allmendinger
24th – Trevor Bayne
25th – Regan Smith
26th – Chris Buescher
27th – Matt DiBenedetto
28th – Brendan Gaughan
29th – Ty Dillon
30th – Paul Menard
31st – Jamie McMurray
32nd – J.J. Yeley
33rd – D.J. Kennington
34th – Kyle Larson
35th – Jeffrey Earnhardt
36th – Ross Chastain
37th – Joey Gase
38th – Landon Cassill
39th – Corey Lajoie
40th – Cody Ware

Be sure to tune in to NBC tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m. ET for the live broadcast of the 1000Bulbs.com 500 from Talladega Superspeedway. Once this race has concluded, the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs will be halfway complete, as just five races will remain on the schedule.