Kyle Busch Takes Pole for Bristol Xfinity Series Race

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor

Kyle Busch’s quest for the weekend three-peat at Bristol just got a little easier.

Driving his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Busch streaked to the pole during the rain-shortened 20-minute qualifying session for Friday night’s Food City 300 with a lap of 15.090 seconds, 127.157 mph, for his sixth NASCAR Xfinity Series pole of the season in his ninth start.

The pole also marks the 63^rd time that Busch will start at the top of the board in the Xfinity Series.

“It’s just a matter of waiting a little bit, seeing what the track had in it and trying to go get it,” Busch said. “Starting up front that will help things for us. We’re a little off on balance there for our run and would like to make some adjustments here in order to make it better so we’re closer at the start of the race and don’t have work on it much during the race.”

In his quest to keep the weekend sweep alive, Busch will be looking for his fifth win of the season and his ninth Xfinity win at Bristol.

Busch will be joined on the front row by fellow Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular Joey Logano, while all but one position in the remainder of the top-10 will be filled out by Xfinity Series regulars. Brennan Poole starts third, followed by Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, Tyler Reddick, Daniel Suarez, Elliott Sadler, Brandon Jones, and Brendan Gaughan.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who is making his first Xfinity Series appearance of the season, will start the 300-lap race in 17^th.