Nobody kisses the bricks after qualifying, but still, it’s best to approach Turn 1 with everyone in your mirror.
Chase Briscoe, from nearby Mitchell, Ind., will do that Sunday in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He toured the historic rectangular oval in 49.136 second for an average speed of 183.165 mph. It’s his fifth pole of the year.
Bubba Wallace will start alongside Briscoe on the outside pole after posting a Saturday lap of 49.149 seconds (183.117 mph).
Denny Hamlin, the last driver on the track and a pre-race favorite, wrecked heavily during his qualifiying lap and will start Sunday in a backup car.
Odd, you might think, that Indy’s pole speed was faster than those at both Daytona and Talladega earlier this year.
But remember, no restricted horsepower at Indy, so this was absolutely as fast as they can go on a track where the 9-degree banking in the corners is nearly pancake-flat compared to Daytona (31 degrees) and Talladega (33).
Stream Brickyard 400 on Sling TV
Top 10 Brickyard 400 speeds at Indy
Chase Briscoe: 183.165
Bubba Wallace 183.117
Erik Jones 182.749
Tyler Reddick: 182.678
Ty Gibbs: 182.445
William Byron 182.031
Chris Buescher: 182.013
Carson Hocevar 181.837
AJ Allmendinger: 181.822
Austin Cindric: 181.503
Brickyard 400 lineup
How to watch Indy: Race times and channels
Saturday: Xfinity Series, Pennzoil 250, 4:30 (CW).
Sunday: Cup Series, Brickyard 400, 2 p.m. (TNT).
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR qualifying results: Starting lineup set for Sunday Brickyard race in Indy on TNT
Reporting by Ken Willis, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
