Cole Custer will start Friday night’s Food City 300 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway from pole position in his No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.
The SHR driver set a fast lap of 15.684 seconds (122.341 mph) around the .533-mile concrete oval during NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying on Friday afternoon. He will be joined on the front row by JR Motorsports driver Josh Berry, who recorded a 15.712-second lap (122.123 mph) in his No. 8 Chevrolet.
John Hunter Nemechek qualified third in his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, with Kaulig Racing’s Chandler Smith following him in fourth in his No. 16 Chevrolet. Teammate Daniel Hemric — who will be moving up to the Cup Series with Kaulig in 2024 — was fifth.
Sammy Smith, Ryan Sieg, Brandon Jones, Jeremy Clements and Justin Allgaier completed the top 10.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified 15th in the No. 88 Chevrolet.
The Food City 300 will commence at 7:30 p.m. (ET), which will kick off the Xfinity Series playoffs.