ES: Tri-County: Qualifying notes

Tardiff is the one

HUDSON, N.C. -- Alan Tardiff went out first and ended up first. As the first car out in qualifying, the 24-year-old Lyman, Maine, rookie won his first Coors Light Pole Award with a fast lap Saturday of 16.562 seconds around the .333-mile Tri-County Motor Speedway. Tardiff's time of 86.946 withstood 25 other challengers.

Tardiff's No. 38 Bestway Disposal Chevrolet is making his sixth career NASCAR Camping World Series East start. He ran four races last season and finished ninth in the season opener at Greenville Pickens Speedway.

Trevor Bayne, who went out 24th, came the closest to knocking Tardiff off but fell two-hundreths of a second short. Bayne (No. 9 DaveDavisMotorsports.com Chevrolet) qualified second at 15.564 (86.936).

Another rookie, Matt DiBenedetto (No. 18 Joe Gibbs Driven Toyota) qualified third at 16.603 (86.731). Austin Dillon and rookie Brett Moffitt rounded out the top five. For the second race in a row, Moffitt - who won the pole at Greenville Pickens - went out last in qualifying.

-credit: nascar