Aric Almirola and his early run on a cooler Nashville Superspeedway won the pole for the Ally 400 NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday.
Almirola, with a time of 29.557 seconds at 161.992 MPH, was the second car to attempt a time and laid down his top lap. The No. 10 Ford has struggled mightily this season (28th in points) after making the playoffs each of the last three seasons.
Several cars slipped and slid through the corners as the session progressed, with the track heating up. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Martin Truex Jr. and Tyler Reddick all had to regain control of their cars after sliding through turns 1 and 2.
Kyle Busch, the Xfinity Series winner at Nashville on Saturday, will start second. Joey Logano and William Byron will start on the second row.
The Cup Series race is scheduled for green flag around 2:45 p.m. CT from Nashville Superspeedway, with the broadcast on NBC Sports Network.
Ally 400 starting lineup
Row 1
1. Aric Almirola, No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
2. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Row 2
3. Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
4. William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Row 3
5. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
6. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Row 4
7. Cole Custer, No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
8. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Row 5
9. Erik Jones, No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet
10. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
Row 6
11. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
12. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Row 7
13. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
Row 8
15. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
16. Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Row 9
17. Chris Buescher, No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford
18. Anthony Alfredo, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
Row 10
19. Ross Chastain, No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
20. Ryan Preece, No. 37 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
Row 11
21. Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
22. Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Toyota
Row 12
23. Michael McDowell, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
24. Corey Lajoie, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Row 13
25. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
26. Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Row 14
27. Justin Haley, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
28. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Row 15
29. Ryan Newman, No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford
30. Kurt Busch, No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
Row 16
31. BJ McLeod, No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Ford
32. JJ Yeley, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
Row 17
33. Chad Finchum, No. 66 Motorsports Business Management Toyota
34. Josh Bilicki, No. 52 Rick Ware Racing Ford
Row 18
35. Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
36. Garrett Smithley, No. 53 Rick Ware Racing Ford
Row 19
37. Joey Gase, No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
38. David Starr, No. 13 Motorsports Business Management Toyota
Row 20
39. Quin Houff, No. 00 StarCom Racing Chevrolet
