AJ Allmendinger gets first NASCAR Cup pole since 2015

BRISTOL, Tenn. — A.J. Allmendinger will start on the pole for Saturday’s Bristol Night Race in what is his first NASCAR Cup Series pole since 2015.

Allmendinger paced the half-mile Bristol Motor Speedway in 15.117 seconds. He bested playoff drivers Ryan Blaney (15.120) and Austin Cindric (15.132) for his fifth career pole.

Allmendinger’s first two Cup poles came at Phoenix in April 2010 and Kansas in April 2012. His next two came in 2015 but he hasn’t led a Cup race to the initial green flag since Watkins Glen that August.

Allmendinger, Blaney, Cindric, Ty Gibbs, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell and Josh Berry will start in the top 10.

The other eight playoff drivers will start outside of the top 10:

Ross Chastain (13th), Tyler Reddick (14th), Alex Bowman (15th), Chase Elliott (16th), Joey Logano (22nd), Austin Dillon (23rd), Shane van Gisbergen (28th), Chase Briscoe (31st). Briscoe had handling issues on his warmup lap.

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Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.

A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.

Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick’s final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen’s stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers’ stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.

Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com