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Chris Buescher rolled to the first Busch Light Pole Award of his NASCAR Cup Series career in Saturday’s qualifying session at Dover Motor Speedway.
RELATED: Starting lineup | Weekend schedule
Buescher set the pace in the final 10-driver group, posting a best lap of 160.149 mph in the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford. He scored the organization’s first pole in nearly five years, dating back to May 2017 at Talladega, and he became the fourth first-time pole winner so far this season in the Cup Series.
Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota will start second in Sunday’s DuraMAX Drydene 400 presented by RelaDyne (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott were fourth and fifth, respectively, and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney wrapped up the top five.
Ross Chastain, last week’s winner at Talladega Superspeedway, was the leader in the first group of qualifying and will start seventh Sunday. Elliott was fastest in qualifying’s Group B. The top five from each group formed the 10-driver field that ran for the pole on the 1-mile concrete track.
Cindric, Kurt Busch top eventful practice sessions
Austin Cindric and Kurt Busch set the pace in each practice group Saturday morning at Dover, avoiding the multiple spins and crashes that plagued others.
Cindric, this year’s Daytona 500 winner, was fastest overall at 157.846 mph in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford. The Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate was followed by a pair of Kaulig Racing teammates — AJ Allmendinger (157.805 mph) and Justin Haley (157.694). Denny Hamlin registered the fourth-best lap on the combined speed chart, and Busch — fastest in Group B — was fifth overall in the 36-car field.
MORE: Practice results
The divided practice sessions were marked by several pitfalls, the heaviest hits snaring the primary cars of William Byron and Josh Bilicki. Both Byron’s Hendrick Motorsports team and Bilicki’s Spire Motorsports group unloaded backup cars to prep for Sunday’s 400-miler.
Tyler Reddick’s No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet was involved in a pair of scrapes in Group B. Rookies Todd Gilliland (Group A) and Harrison Burton (Group B) also sustained damage in separate single-car incidents.
This story will be updated.