NASCAR Cup Series at Martinsville starting lineup: Chase Elliott lays down scorcher to win first pole of 2022

Chase Elliott earned the pole for the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville Speedway on Friday afternoon, scoring his first pole of 2022 and the 10th of his career. Elliott beat Aric Almirola for the pole with a lap of 19.694 (96.151 MPH), the only lap of the day under 19.7 seconds in Friday’s combined practice and qualifying session.

Cool temperatures, combined with drivers adapting to the Next Gen car at Martinsville Speedway — particularly the car’s larger brakes and five-speed transmission — saw speeds gradually pick up throughout the afternoon and into the evening. After Elliott posted the fastest time in practice at an even 20 seconds, speeds went into the high 19-second bracket before Elliott was finally able to improve over three-10ths on his practice time.

Elliott was able to beat out a cluster of Fords for the top starting spot, including Aric Almirola (second), Cole Custer (third), Chris Buescher (fourth) and Kevin Harvick (sixth), among several others. One of those was rookie Todd Gilliland, who qualified 10th to earn his first-ever top-10 start.

After failing pre-qualifying tech inspection three times, A.J. Allmendinger was disallowed from making a qualifying attempt and will start at the rear of the field in 36th. Allmendinger will also have to serve a pass-through penalty following the start of the race. Kaulig Racing engineer Michael Brookes has been ejected from the race weekend.

Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 starting lineup

1. #9 – Chase Elliott
2. #10 – Aric Almirola
3. #41 – Cole Custer
4. #17 – Chris Buescher
5. #24 – William Byron
6. #4 – Kevin Harvick
7. #20 – Christopher Bell
8. #5 – Kyle Larson
9. #6 – Brad Keselowski
10. #38 – Todd Gilliland (R)
11. #18 – Kyle Busch
12. #12 – Ryan Blaney
13. #2 – Austin Cindric (R)
14. #22 – Joey Logano
15. #48 – Alex Bowman
16. #34 – Michael McDowell
17. #31 – Justin Haley
18. #45 – Kurt Busch
19. #14 – Chase Briscoe
20. #19 – Martin Truex Jr.
21. #23 – Bubba Wallace
22. #8 – Tyler Reddick
23. #3 – Austin Dillon
24. #43 – Erik Jones
25. #11 – Denny Hamlin
26. #7 – Corey LaJoie
27. #1 – Ross Chastain
28. #47 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
29. #21 – Harrison Burton (R)
30. #99 – Daniel Suarez
31. #77 – Josh Bilicki
32. #15 – J.J. Yeley
33. #78 – B.J. McLeod
34. #42 – Ty Dillon
35. #51 – Cody Ware
36. #16 – A.J. Allmendinger