TALLADEGA, Ala. – Daniel Hemric continued his restrictor-plate prowess in the NASCAR Xfinity Series during knockout qualifying on Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway, capturing his third-career pole and first at NASCAR’s longest track.

Hemric, who also won the pole at Daytona Int’l Speedway in February, toured the 2.66-mile superspeedway in 50.559 seconds (189.402 mph) with the No. 21 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet.

Elliott Sadler qualified second-fastest (50.727/188.775) in the No. 1 OneMain Financial Chevrolet, but will drop to the rear for the start of Saturday’s race after an engine change earlier in the weekend.

Spencer Gallagher, John Hunter Nemechek and Michael Annett completed the top five in the final round of qualifying.

Justin Allgaier, Shane Lee, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Truex, Matt Tifft, Austin Cindric and Cole Custer filled out the first six rows of the starting grid.

Christopher Bell was the first driver who failed to advance to the final round, in a qualifying session where all three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers were below the cut line.

Bell timed in 13^th-fastest with the No. 20 Rheem Toyota, posting a time of 51.283 seconds (186.729 mph) on his run around the high-banked tri-oval.

His JGR teammates Brandon Jones and Noah Gragson start 15^th and 20^th, respectively.

Other notables starting deep in the field include Ty Majeski (14^th), Chase Briscoe (16^th), Ryan Reed (19^th), Joe Nemechek (23^rd) and Ross Chastain (26^th).

Morgan Shepherd was the lone driver who failed to qualify for the 40-car field.