DARLINGTON, S.C. — Entering Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series regular-season finale at 21 points below the cutline, Bubba Wallace knew he needed a strong weekend through and through to make the playoffs.
As of Saturday, he checked the first box.
With a time of 29.421 seconds (167.146 mph) in Round 2, Wallace posted a time just fast enough over rookie Carson Hocevar and former series champion Kyle Larson for his third career pole.
The Mobile, Ala. driver went all out in Round 1, scraping the wall on exit of Turn Four as he posted the quickest time of the entire qualifying session. Though slower in the final round, he still had the quickest time both in his group and overall.
“We’re not here to mess around,” Wallace said after qualifying. “I showed up with a more open and calmer demeanor – more free and relaxing demeanor, but at the same time I don’t want to be messed with. So, it’s a fine balance you’re got to walk. I appreciate the team. We unloaded – we did some changes to the car in the spring race, and it just wouldn’t give me the right read going into qualifying. So, I told Booty (Barker, crew chief), ‘Hey, I need to be this to have a good qualifying run’ and here we are.’
“I was pretty mad after practice and not being on top. I set the expectations pretty high, and we were sixth and I was like ‘God almighty! Alright, I wanted to make a statement,’ and I didn’t do that. So, I had to make that up in qualifying. It’s good to be where we’re at.
Hocevar will start second while Chase Briscoe, Larson and Martin Truex Jr. round out the top five. Tyler Reddick rolls off sixth as he pursues the regular-season title, with Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Christopher Bell and Chris Buescher completing the top 10.
Blaney had the sixth-best 10-lap average in practice.
“The second round wasn’t as good as I had hoped for,” Blaney said. “I thought our race pace was really strong though, so that is something to look forward to. Starting in the top 10 tomorrow is not too bad. Like I said, I feel good about the race tomorrow, so we have that to look forward to and hopefully we can move forward come race time.”
Of note, spring race winner Brad Keselowski qualified 12th with four-time Darlington winner Denny Hamlin placing 14th. Kyle Busch, who must win to make the playoffs, starts 17th. Last week’s winner, Harrison Burton, will roll off 24th with two-time Southern 500 winner Erik Jones set to start 28th.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. didn’t post a lap after crashing in practice. It’s unclear if he’ll go to a backup car, but regardless, he’ll come from the rear.
Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 is set for 6 p.m. ET on USA Network.