Joe Gibbs Racing Sweeps Xfinity Front Row at Bristol

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Several hours prior to the Food City 300, the NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers ran qualification laps to determine the starting grid. With 40 cars attempting the race and 40 cars available, all drivers will compete tonight at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch earned his 65^th career pole in his final Xfinity start of the year with a lap of 124.686 mph. His Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, and Xfinity Championship Points Leader, Christopher Bell qualified on the outside pole.

Premier Series drivers Kyle Larson and Joey Logano qualified third and fourth with Matt Tifft rounding out the top-five. Elliott Sadler qualified sixth in his last Bristol race.

Brandon Jones, Ty Dillon, Cole Custer, and Justin Allgaier filled out the rest of the top 10 starting spots.

Chase Briscoe and Ryan Truex tied for the 12^th and final transfer spot in round two of qualifying. However, Truex won the tiebreaker over Briscoe to advance from round two to round three of qualifying. Drivers that also failed to advance included Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott, Ryan Reed, Austin Cindric, and Ross Chastain.

Alex Labbe, who earned his first career top-10 finish in the Xfinity Series last weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course qualified 22^nd in his 25^th career start.

Michael Annett slid out of the groove exiting turn two. He lost control, first sliding towards the inside wall before overcorrecting into the outside wall. Annett’s No. 5 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro SS received minor damage to the right front fascia. Although his lap was good enough to advance from the first round of qualifying to the second, the damage to the car and tires kept him from making a lap in round two.