DARLINGTON, S.C. – Kaulig Racing will have a solid shot at the team’s second-straight victory on Saturday, with all three of their cars starting inside the top four to begin the NASCAR Xfinity Series Steakhouse Elite 200 at Darlington Raceway.
A.J. Allmendinger, the driver of the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro for the Matt Kaulig-owned team, received the pole for the 200-mile event courtesy of the highest metric score among the 40 cars entered to compete.
Lap speed is weighted at 15 percent, previous race finish at 25 percent for the driver and owner results and owner points position at 35 percent to calculate the final metric score.
Allmendinger earned the pole with a metric score of 4.65, factoring in his recent third-place finish at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, the seventh-fastest lap from that event and his sixth-place seeding in the point standings after eight of 33 races this season.
He’ll be joined on the front row by series point leader Austin Cindric, with Allmendinger’s two teammates – Talladega winner Jeb Burton and Justin Haley – sharing the second row of the starting grid.
JR Motorsports’ Noah Gragson starts fifth, followed by Riley Herbst, Daniel Hemric, Harrison Burton, Brandon Brown and Myatt Snider.
Three JR Motorsports drivers – Justin Allgaier in 16th, Michael Annett in 20th, and Josh Berry in 24th – will have a long way forward to come after disappointing finishes in the recent rain-shortened event at Talladega.
The same is true for Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs, who rolls off 29th in the No. 54 Toyota Supra.
To view the full starting lineup and metric qualifying breakdown, click here.
Saturday’s Steakhouse Elite 200 is scheduled for a 1 p.m. ET start, with live coverage on FS1, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.