Justin Allgaier rode to his first NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series pole position of the 2026 season for the Andy’s Frozen Custard 340 at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday, May 1.
The event’s starting lineup was determined through a single-car, single-lap qualifying format. In this format, all 38 competitors vying for 38 starting spots cycled around Texas Motor Speedway once to post the fastest lap amongst one another. The competitor who posted the fastest single lap was awarded the pole position.
During Friday’s qualifying session, Allgaier clocked in a single qualifying lap at 188.607 mph in 28.631 seconds. The lap was enough for Allgaier and his No. 7 Roto-Rooter/JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro team to claim the top-starting spot for an upcoming O’Reilly event for the first time this season.
With the pole, Allgaier achieved his 13th O’Reilly career pole for his 516th series start and his first at Texas. The 2024 O’Reilly champion currently leads the 2026 driver’s standings by 105 points over Sheldon Creed as he strives to both extend his early momentum and contend for his first victory at Texas during Saturday’s main event.
Allgaier will share the front row with Brandon Jones, the latter of whom posted the second-fastest single-qualifying lap run at 188.075 mph in 28.712 seconds. Like Allgaier, Jones is still striving for his first victory at Texas. The latter is also pursuing his first victory of 2026 and first since he won at Kansas Speedway in September 2025.
Kyle Larson, who is scheduled to make his fourth and final O’Reilly start this season in the No. 88 HendrickCars.com/JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro entry, qualified in third place at 187.852 mph in 28.746 seconds. Larson is the reigning O’Reilly winner at Texas, where he piloted the No. 88 entry when he achieved the feat.
Ironically, Connor Zilisch, whom Larson substituted for a year ago, will share the second row with Larson. Zilisch, who is driving the No. 1 Registix/TruckClub/JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro entry and is making his first O’Reilly start at Texas, posted the fourth-fastest qualifying lap at 187.357 mph in 28.822 seconds.
Rookie Brent Crews is one of four competitors competing for the fourth and final $100,000 bonus of this season. He will start in fifth place and will share the third row with rookie Corey Day. Day, a Dash 4 Cash contender, achieved his first O’Reilly career victory last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. Sheldon Creed and Sammy Smith, the remaining two Dash 4 Cash contenders, will start 11th and 15th, respectively.
Austin Hill, Jeremy Clements, Ryan Sieg and Parker Retzlaff completed the top-10 starting grid.
With 38 competitors vying for 38 starting spots, all made the main event.
Texas – Qualifying Position, Best Speed, Best Time:
- Justin Allgaier, 188.607 mph, 28.631 seconds
- Brandon Jones, 188.075 mph, 28.712 seconds
- Kyle Larson, 187.852 mph, 28.746 seconds
- Connor Zilisch, 187.357 mph, 28.822 seconds
- Brent Crews, 187.318 mph, 28.828 seconds
- Corey Day, 186.323 mph, 28.982 seconds
- Austin Hill, 186.316 mph, 28.983 seconds
- Jeremy Clements, 186.265 mph, 28.991 seconds
- Ryan Sieg, 186.091 mph, 29.018 seconds
- Parker Retzlaff, 185.976 mph, 29.036 seconds
- Sheldon Creed, 185.842 mph, 29.057 seconds
- Taylor Gray, 185.816 mph, 29.061 seconds
- Rajah Caruth, 185.803 mph, 29.063 seconds
- Carson Kvapil, 185.122 mph, 29.170 seconds
- Sammy Smith, 184.957 mph, 29.196 seconds
- William Sawalich, 184.919 mph, 29.202 seconds
- Sam Mayer, 184.414 mph, 29.282 seconds
- Anthony Alfredo, 184.237 mph, 29.310 seconds
- Austin Green, 184.043 mph, 29.341 seconds
- Austin Dillon, 183.974 mph, 29.352 seconds
- Jesse Love, 183.899 mph, 29.364 seconds
- Dean Thompson, 183.511 mph, 29.426 seconds
- Kyle Sieg, 183.449 mph, 29.436 seconds
- Harrison Burton, 183.380 mph, 29.447 seconds
- Jeb Burton, 182.970 mph, 29.513 seconds
- Josh Williams, 182.877 mph, 29.528 seconds
- Brennan Poole, 182.822 mph, 29.537 seconds
- Patrick Staropoli, 182.797 mph, 29.541 seconds
- Blaine Perkins, 182.716 mph, 29.554 seconds
- Mason Maggio, 182.328 mph, 29.617 seconds
- Dawson Cram, 180.108 mph, 29.982 seconds
- Garrett Smithley, 179.527 mph, 30.079 seconds
- Josh Bilicki, 179.372 mph, 30.105 seconds
- Brad Perez, 178.678 mph, 30.222 seconds
- David Starr, 178.094 mph, 30.321 seconds
- Joey Gase, 177.451 mph, 30.431 seconds
- Lavar Scott, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds
- Ryan Ellis, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds
The 2026 Andy’s Frozen Custard 340 at Texas Motor Speedway is scheduled to occur on Saturday, May 2, at 3:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network, PRN Radio and SiriusXM.
