Cole Custer’s bid for a Championship 4 appearance this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway kicked off strong after the Stewart-Haas Racing driver earned the pole for Saturday’s Contender Boats 300.
Custer wheeled his No. 00 Ford to a fastest speed of 165.604 mph, 0.178 seconds faster than John Hunter Nemechek. It was Custer’s sixth pole of the season.
Behind the front two, a pair of Chevrolet’s in Justin Allgaier and Austin Hill followed suit. Rounding out the top five was Joe Gibbs Racing’s Sammy Smith in fifth.
Brett Moffitt starts sixth with last week’s winner in Las Vegas, Riley Herbst, starting seventh aboard the No. 98 Ford. A trio of Chevrolet’s in Josh Berry (8th), Sheldon Creed (9th) and Parker Kligerman (10th) solidified the front five rows.
Playoff contenders Chandler Smith (12th) and Sam Mayer (13th) are the only drivers in the Round of 8 not to qualify in the top 10.
Appearing in his second and final race of the season aboard the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start 23rd.