LINCOLN, Ala. -- Michael McDowell won the pole for the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in qualifying on Saturday morning, posting a lap of 52.609 (182.022 MPH) in the final round to earn his second pole of the 2024 season and the second of his Cup Series career. This is also McDowell's third front row start overall after he qualified on the outside pole for the Daytona 500 and then won his first Cup pole the next week at Atlanta.
The big story in qualifying was not necessarily who was out on track to make a lap, but who wasn't. After catching the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team making an unapproved adjustment to the roof rail of their car while pushing it out to pit road, NASCAR forbid Kyle Larson and his team from making a qualifying attempt. Larson will start last on Sunday, breaking his streak of three consecutive poles, and NASCAR stated that any further penalties will be announced later this week.
A great lap for @AustinCindric but he's going to have to settle for second
— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) April 20, 2024
Michael McDowell wins the pole at Talladega #GEICO500 pic.twitter.com/u85OuWrhBm
McDowell was the tip of the spear for Ford, which swept the front row for the third time in three speedway races to start the 2024 season. Austin Cindric put his Team Penske Ford on the outside pole, earning his best starting spot for a Cup race since he qualified second at the Indianapolis road course in 2022. Five Fords in total qualified inside the top 10, including McDowell's Front Row Motorsports teammate Todd Gilliland, who earned his best career starting spot in third.
Ryan Blaney, who won at Talladega last fall and has three Talladega wins overall, qualified 21st with a different crew chief at the head of his No. 12 team. Tony Palmer is filling in this week for Jonathan Hassler, who did not make the trip to Talladega as he attends to the birth of his child.
Cody Ware, making his season debut and his first NASCAR start since being suspended for much of the 2023 season due to legal issues, qualified 34th.
GEICO 500 starting lineup
- #34 - Michael McDowell
- #2 - Austin Cindric
- #38 - Todd Gilliland
- #8 - Kyle Busch
- #3 - Austin Dillon
- #19 - Martin Truex Jr.
- #22 - Joey Logano
- #17 - Chris Buescher
- #9 - Chase Elliott
- #20 - Christopher Bell
- #41 - Ryan Preece
- #48 - Alex Bowman
- #24 - William Byron
- #23 - Bubba Wallace
- #54 - Ty Gibbs
- #21 - Harrison Burton
- #16 - Shane van Gisbergen
- #45 - Tyler Reddick
- #31 - Daniel Hemric
- #42 - John Hunter Nemechek
- #12 - Ryan Blaney
- #6 - Brad Keselowski
- #11 - Denny Hamlin
- #62 - Anthony Alfredo
- #99 - Daniel Suarez
- #14 - Chase Briscoe
- #51 - Justin Haley
- #43 - Erik Jones
- #4 - Josh Berry (R)
- #71 - Zane Smith (R)
- #7 - Corey LaJoie
- #1 - Ross Chastain
- #47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- #15 - Cody Ware
- #77 - Carson Hocevar (R)
- #10 - Noah Gragson
- #78 - B.J. McLeod
- #5 - Kyle Larson