Ryan Blaney Best in NASCAR Cup Qualifying at Bristol

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Ryan Blaney will start on the pole and share the front row with Tyler Reddick for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. 

Blaney will start on the pole for the 13th time in his career. His last pole was at Watkins Glen last August.

Previously at Bristol, Blaney started on pole in spring 2024, fifth last spring and second last fall. He has also finished inside the top-10 in the last three Bristol races but is still seeking his first win at the track.

What's different for this weekend is 80 more horsepower and much less downforce. That hasn't changed Blaney's race speed, as he also had the second-fastest 10 consecutive lap average, but the package hasn't come without challenges.

“It’s a handful. That’s for sure. I thought our pace was pretty good in practice but I was having to work really hard to keep the pace and about busted my butt a couple times and had to come in and make an adjustment" Blaney said. "It’s gonna be a handful, that’s for sure. I feel like you get more laps on tires it’s gonna just be even more worse. If it’s warmer tomorrow and the sun is out, it’s gonna be even more of a handful, so I think it’s good, it’s positive."

Blaney said the package is a "step in the right direction." He said the cars felt better, especially in traffic and in terms of putting the handling back in the drivers' hands.

"You’re gonna have a lot of guys with their hands full. I think you’re gonna see a lot of snap loose off of corners. That kind of seemed to be a big trend in practice and then in the race when you’re trying to push hard and pass somebody, you’re gonna get in those uh-oh moments of trying to throttle down and you’re gonna see a lot of guys about wreck and some of them might," Blaney said.

Blaney's Bristol pole lap was 0.023 seconds better than what Reddick ran to start second. 

Two spots back is Riley Herbst, who qualified a career-best fourth.

Riley Herbst qualifying fourth is his best overall Cup start by two positions and best non-drafting track start by 10 positions. His previous-best non-drafting start was 14th at Darlington last month. He stayed inside the top-15 until he was swept up in a crash.

TOP-10 STARTERS (with lap time): Ryan Blaney (15.101 seconds), Tyler Reddick (15.124), Chase Briscoe (15.135), Riley Herbst (15.147), Ty Gibbs (15.164), Ross Chastain (15.175), Chris Buescher (15.190), Kyle Larson (15.192), Austin Cindric (15.200), Carson Hocevar (15.201). 

Starting 11th is Denny Hamlin (15.225). This is the first time since April 2018 that Hamlin has started outside of the top-10 for a Cup race at Bristol.

In 27 starts with the current Bristol configuration, this is only the fourth time Hamlin has started outside of the top-10 for a race. In those three other races, he finished 40th, 10th and 14th. The 40th-place finish comes with an asterisk, however, as he crashed while leading the race.

Hamlin wasn't the only notable driver who qualified outside of the top-10.

Toyota teammates Bubba Wallace (15.231) and Christopher Bell (15.261) qualified 12th and 14th, respectively.

Chase Elliott, the most recent winner in the Cup Series, led the three Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets that qualified outside of the top-10, in 18th (15.285).

Teammate Alex Bowman qualified 27th (15.368) for his first race back since vertigo symptoms sidelined him for four races.

Meanwhile, William Byron qualified 34th (15.554) after having issues on his qualfiying lap. Byron - Bristol stats

In between that Hendrick trio, Joey Logano qualified 20th (15.311).

NASCAR Cup Series Lineup at Bristol