Brandon Jones will start on pole for Saturday’s Dead On Tools 250 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
Jones, who won at Martinsville in April, ran a best lap of 19.832 seconds, 0.031 seconds faster than second-place qualifier Sheldon Creed.
“I don’t think that there’s any more added stress or anything there,” Jones said. “I mean, when it comes down to strategy, the race becomes very simple. You know, now that we don’t have to go out there and maybe run around for points, and at the end, you’re panicked to try to win the race. I mean, we have one goal in mind and it is to win the race. I don’t see a really a scenario that we points our way into this.”
Heading into Martinsville 38 points below the cutline, Jones is in a must-win situation to advance to the Championship Four.
Fellow Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Sammy Smith and Ty Gibbs qualified third and fourth, with JR Motorsports’ Noah Gragson rounding out the top five.
A.J. Allmendinger, who is five points to the good in the playoff standings, qualified ninth.
It was a rough session for Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill, who did not post a qualifying speed, and will start 36th.
Hill sits sixth in the playoff standings, seven points behind Allmendinger for the final transfer spot.