By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer
SPARTA, Ky. – Erik Jones turned a lap at 182.207 mph in the final round of knockout qualifying to earn the 21 Means 21 Pole Award for Saturday night’s VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 at Kentucky Speedway. Jones edged teammate Daniel Suarez for the top spot as the front-row will be all Joe Gibbs Racing.
The pole was the eighth of the season for Jones and his 26th top-10 start.
Elliott Sadler, Ty Dillon, Sam Hornish Jr, Matt Tifft, Brendan Gaughan, Ryan Blaney, Darrell Wallace, Justin Allgaier, Brennan Poole and Josh Berry completed the top-12.
Blaney, driving the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, is the only Sprint Cup Series driver in the 40-car field. Tifft is making his first XFINITY start since having a brain tumor removed in July.
Related: Matt Tifft Returns to ARCA and XFINITY Competition at Kentucky
The 200-lap race marks the start of the inaugural XFINITY Series Chase. Eight drivers in the 12-driver Chase field advanced to the third round of qualifying and start inside the top-12. The Chase-eligible cars that did not advance: Brandon Jones (starts 14th), Blake Koch (starts 15th), Ryan Reed (starts 16th) and Ryan Sieg (starts 19th).
The race will be broadcast on NBCSN beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET. Radio will be available on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
The full starting lineup, via NASCAR, can be found here.
