LONG POND, Pa. — Rookies rolled to glory during NASCAR XFINITY Series pole qualifying on Saturday morning, sweeping the front row for the Pocono Green 250.
Led by 19-year-old Kyle Benjamin, four rookies landed in the top five positions on the grid during the final round of knockout qualifying, including three teenagers looking for their first-career series victories.
Making just his second-career series start, Benjamin laid down a huge lap of 52.070 seconds (172.844 mph) in his No. 20 Hisense Toyota, scoring his first 21 Means 21 Pole Award after qualifying second in his debut at Richmond last month.
The Easley, S.C. native ran among the top 10 all day in that event, before being swept up in a late-race crash and relegated to a 32nd-place finish.
This time, Benjamin was all smiles after reaping the rewards of his fast qualifying effort.
“It means a lot to get the pole here at Pocono,” Benjamin said. “This gives us a lot of confidence. The team has already done some great things and has had fast Camrys all year. Hopefully we can turn this into a win today.”
Former Legends car standout Daniel Hemric found his speedway footing on Saturday as well, posting the second-quickest lap time (52.233/172.305) in his No. 21 Blue Gate Bank Chevrolet and sitting on the front row for the third time this season.
Another 19-year-old in Cole Custer landed third on the board, wheeling his No. 00 Haas Automation Ford to a lap of 52.236 seconds (172.295 mph) and providing all three manufacturers representation among the qualifying podium.
JR Motorsports teammates Justin Allgaier and William Byron completed the top five, marking a lockout of the front five starting positions by series regulars.
Kyle Larson, Daniel Suarez, Brad Keselowski and Paul Menard were the best of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regulars, timing in sixth through ninth, respectively.
Brennan Poole completed the top 10, followed Brendan Gaughan and Blake Koch among the drivers who advanced through both rounds of knockout qualifying.
Darrell Wallace Jr. was the first driver below the cut line to advance to the final round, and will start 13th (52.768/170.558) in his final scheduled XFINITY start before focusing solely on his duties subbing for the injured Aric Almirola at Richard Petty Motorsports in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
Other notables eliminated in round one of qualifying included Ty Dillon (15th), Daytona winner Ryan Reed (16th), ARCA runner-up Brandon Jones (17th), points leader Elliott Sadler (18th) and Michael Annett (21st).
Matt Tifft landed a lowly 31st on the grid after having to avoid the slowing car of Casey Mears on his qualifying lap.
Mears’ time was disallowed for impeding Tifft’s progress, and he will start 40th as a result.
A wayward fox stalled the proceedings during the first round, sunbathing by the inside wall and forcing a red flag before ducking inside a gap in the wall and out of reach of multiple waiting officials and track personnel.
Trackside workers eventually laid several bags of dry concrete mix up over the escape hole that the fox used, preventing it from returning during the remainder of the session.
The Pocono Green 250, featuring a ‘Drivers Only’ broadcast on FOX, kicks off at 1:30 p.m. ET.
Full qualifying results can be viewed on the next page…
