Both Richard Childress Racing and Talladega Superspeedway are celebrating 50th anniversaries in 2019. RCR driver and team owner Richard Childress’ grandson Austin Dillon put on a combined celebration at the track Saturday by claiming the pole for Sunday’s Geico 500. Dillon posted a 49.734-second/192.544 mph lap in the second of two rounds of single-car qualifying on his 29th birthday for his fifth-career pole and his second of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.
“Well, it feels great. It’s RCR’s 50th anniversary and my grandfather takes a lot of pride in these speedway races,” Dillon said. "To come here and get a pole, we felt like we had a car capable of doing that. We knew that didn’t hurt us, so we just wanted to go out there and do what we did — get a pole. And, man, it’s all of these guys. I didn’t do nothing, just holding the wheel straight. I did hold the wheel straight. I guess I did that. Fun times. Sunday is when it matters, though. We’d love to get a win and lock ourselves in the playoffs, because these races are ones that you can really take advantage of, because there’s a lot of points to get out there. And that’s what we’re going to do tomorrow.”
The Talladega race weekend didn’t start off as well for Dillon and his #3 RCR team, as they had the rear deck lid of their car confiscated between Friday practice sessions. According to crew chief Danny Stockman Jr., NASCAR “saw something they didn’t like.”
Aric Almirola qualified second to share the front row with Dillon. Clint Bowyer and Brad Keselowski claimed second-row spots on the starting grid, to give Ford three cars in the first two rows, along with Dillon’s Chevrolet.
“I think we got pretty close to backing up what we ran in the first round, there, but I felt like the wind picked up a little bit more,” Almirola said. "I don't know if that was it or what the case was. All in all, it was a great run for us. I am happy about starting on the front row with good track position to start the race and a good pit stall. All those things matter.”
Drafts in both of Friday’s practice sessions resulted in uncomfortable speeds surpassing 200 mph, resulting in NASCAR mandating wicker strips atop rear spoilers between practice sessions, only to see speeds increase in the second practice. But during Saturday’s single-car qualifying sessions, speeds remained below 193 mph.
Dillon’s pole-winning lap in the second round was the fastest lap, overall, of the two-round qualifying session. Almirola’s 49.791-second/192.324 mph lap in round one led that round.
No Toyotas were among the 12 cars advancing to the second round of qualifying. Martin Truex Jr. was the fastest Toyota, qualifying 20th.
"We unloaded off the trailer pretty far off,” Truex said. "Just the way the car drove. We have a lot to do, but the guys did a good job making it better for second practice and thought we ended in a pretty decent spot. Made some more changes for tomorrow. We’ll have to see; it’s going to be part of the learning curve. It’s a lot different. Looking forward to it. It should be a lot of fun. I felt like yesterday was pretty exciting in practice and usually that leads to a pretty fun race.”
Kurt Busch’s car failed pre-qualifying inspection twice. As a result, car chief Ryan Bergenty was ejected from the Talladega garage/pit area. But since the #1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet passed the third time through, he will be allowed to start in the 14th position in which he qualified.
Meanwhile, Brendan Gaughan will have to drop to the back for the start of Sunday’s race, because NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Tyler Reddick qualified his No. 62 Beard Motorsports car. Gaughan made a trip home to Las Vegas for his son’s confirmation. He’s expected to return to TMS in time for Sunday’s race.
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