Qualifying report
NASCAR Cup Bristol
NASCAR Cup Bristol starting lineup: Ryan Blaney beats Reddick to pole
Only a single tenth separated the fastest ten qualifiers at the Bristol half-mile
Nick DeGroot
Edited: Apr 12, 2026, 1:32 AM
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Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
Photo by: Matt Kelley / Getty Images
In qualifying at Saturday, the No. 12 Team Penske Ford of Ryan Blaney secured pole position at Bristol Motor Speedway. With a fast lap of 15.101s, he earned his 13th career pole and second at Bristol.
"Just kind of got free on Lap 1, and then it was like all right, gather yourself up in (Turns) 3 and 4 and try and get a second lap," said Blaney. "Luckily, the rear tires came in better the second lap in (Turns) 1 and 2, and then (Turns) 3 and 4 I thought was a really good corner. A really great job by the whole 12 boys. Our race car in practice was pretty good, and it was nice that we made some pretty good adjustments in qualifying with the pace being up ... Cool start to the weekend, now we got to do it for 500 laps, which should be fun."
Watch: 'Cool start': Blaney storms to Bristol pole
Blaney will share the front row with championship leader Tyler Reddick in the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota.
Chase Briscoe qualified third with Riley Herbst fourth in the best qualifying effort of his entire Cup career. Ty Gibbs was fifth, while Ross Chastain led the way for Chevrolet in sixth. Chris Buescher, Kyle Larson, Austin Cindric, and Carson Hocevar filled out the remainder of the top ten.
Alex Bowman, who is making his first start in five weeks after recovering from vertigo, qualified 27th. But the real surprise towards the back of the pack was his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, William Byron, who will start 34th.
Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports
Photo by: Chris Graythen - Getty Images
Qualifying recap
Herbst, whose previous best start was sixth, led the first half of qualifying with a 15.147s. Chastain began the second half of qualifying, slotting in just 0.028s behind Herbst.
But the first to topple Herbst for P1 was Briscoe, lapping the half-mile 0.012s quicker than his fellow Toyota driver. Cindric had a shot at Briscoe, but bobbled on his second lap while tracking faster.
Herbst's 23XI teammate Reddick then burned out of the pits, heating up the tires in a clever move. The championship leader set the new benchmark with a 15.124s, 0.011 quicker than Briscoe.
Blaney then went fastest of all drivers, beating Reddick by over two hundredths and ending the Toyota stranglehold at the front. Gibbs had a chance to challenge, but slipped up off the bottom line during his second lap around the circuit.
There were no incidents during the qualifying session and all 37 entries recorded a time.
Photos from Bristol - Saturday
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
Bristol - Saturday, in photos
NASCAR Cup
50
Food City 500 Starting Lineup -- Bristol Motor Speedway
Cla Driver # Manufacturer Time Mph 1 R. BlaneyTeam Penske 12 Ford
15.101
127.064 2 T. Reddick23XI Racing 45 Toyota
+0.023
15.124
126.871 3 C. BriscoeJoe Gibbs Racing 19 Toyota
+0.034
15.135
126.779 4 R. Herbst23XI Racing 35 Toyota
+0.046
15.147
126.679 5 T. GibbsJoe Gibbs Racing 54 Toyota
+0.063
15.164
126.537 6 R. ChastainTrackHouse Racing 1 Chevrolet
+0.074
15.175
126.445 7 C. BuescherRFK Racing 17 Ford
+0.089
15.190
126.320 8 K. LarsonHendrick Motorsports 5 Chevrolet
+0.091
15.192
126.303 9 A. CindricTeam Penske 2 Ford
+0.099
15.200
126.237 10 C. HocevarSpire Motorsports 77 Chevrolet
+0.100
15.201
126.229 11 D. HamlinJoe Gibbs Racing 11 Toyota
+0.124
15.225
126.030 12 B. Wallace23XI Racing 23 Toyota
+0.130
15.231
125.980 13 D. SuarezSpire Motorsports 7 Chevrolet
+0.132
15.233
125.963 14 C. BellJoe Gibbs Racing 20 Toyota
+0.160
15.261
125.732 15 Z. SmithFront Row Motorsports 38 Ford
+0.176
15.277
125.601 16 N. GragsonFront Row Motorsports 4 Ford
+0.178
15.279
125.584 17 R. PreeceRFK Racing 60 Ford
+0.181
15.282
125.559 18 C. ElliottHendrick Motorsports 9 Chevrolet
+0.184
15.285
125.535 19 M. McDowellSpire Motorsports 71 Chevrolet
+0.190
15.291
125.486 20 J. LoganoTeam Penske 22 Ford
+0.210
15.311
125.322 21 B. KeselowskiRFK Racing 6 Ford
+0.211
15.312
125.313 22 A. AllmendingerKaulig Racing 16 Chevrolet
+0.222
15.323
125.224 23 R. Stenhouse JrHyak Motorsports 47 Chevrolet
+0.230
15.331
125.158 24 A. DillonRichard Childress Racing 3 Chevrolet
+0.243
15.344
125.052 25
J. BerryWood Brothers Racing
21 Ford
+0.263
15.364
124.889 26
C. ZilischTrackHouse Racing
88 Chevrolet
+0.267
15.368
124.857 27 A. BowmanHendrick Motorsports 48 Chevrolet
+0.267
15.368
124.857 28 E. JonesLegacy Motor Club 43 Toyota
+0.277
15.378
124.776 29 K. BuschRichard Childress Racing 8 Chevrolet
+0.288
15.389
124.686 30 C. CusterHaas Factory Team 41 Chevrolet
+0.303
15.404
124.565 31 J. NemechekLegacy Motor Club 42 Toyota
+0.366
15.467
124.058 32 T. DillonKaulig Racing 10 Chevrolet
+0.397
15.498
123.810 33 S. van GisbergenTrackHouse Racing 97 Chevrolet
+0.413
15.514
123.682 34 W. ByronHendrick Motorsports 24 Chevrolet
+0.453
15.554
123.364 35 T. GillilandFront Row Motorsports 34 Ford
+0.492
15.593
123.055 36 C. WareRick Ware Racing 51 Chevrolet
+0.512
15.613
122.898 37 C. FinchumGarage 66 66 Ford
+0.610
15.711
122.131
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