CONCORD, N.C. – Brad Keselowski saved his best for last during NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying Saturday morning at Charlotte Motor Speedway, capturing the pole position for the Alsco 300.
Keselowski toured the 1.5-mile quad-oval in 29.287 seconds (184.382 mph) on his final round run, putting the No. 22 Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 out front for the 21st time in his Xfinity Series career and the first time since November of 2016 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Saturday’s qualifying effort also marked the first-career Xfinity Series pole for team owner Roger Penske at Charlotte.
The 2012 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion is seeking his second victory of the year in NASCAR’s second-highest series, following his win at Arizona’s ISM Raceway in March.
Cole Custer completed a Ford Performance sweep of the front row, putting his No. 00 Haas Automation Mustang second-fastest with a time of 29.331 seconds (184.106 mph). The sophomore driver secured a top-two starting spot for the third time in the last five races with his run in the third round.
Eight-time Charlotte Xfinity winner Kyle Busch was third, followed by Tyler Reddick and Brandon Jones.
Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe, Justin Allgaier, Ty Majeski and Jamie McMurray filled out the first six rows and advanced through each of the three rounds of qualifying.
Elliott Sadler was the first driver who failed to make the final knockout round, timing in 13th-fastest overall with a lap of 29.779 seconds (181.336 mph) in his No. 1 OneMain Financial Chevrolet.
Other notables eliminated in the second round included Ty Dillon (14th); Kaz Grala, who had to qualify on speed and will roll off 16th for Fury Race Cars; Daniel Hemric (17th), Matt Tifft (19th) and Ryan Sieg (21st).
In a surprising turn of events, Michael Annett was bumped out of the top 24 at the very end of round one. He will start 25th for JR Motorsports in the No. 5 Chevrolet.
The Alsco 300 is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start, with live coverage on FOX Sports 1, the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
For a look at the full starting grid, advance to the next page.
