Ty Majeski stormed to the pole position for the Love’s RV Stop 225 at Talladega Superspeedway on Friday, October 23.
The event’s starting lineup was determined through a two-round qualifying session. The first session featured 38 competitors battling for 36 starting spots, all of whom cycled once around Talladega to post the fastest lap. At the end of the first session, the top-10 fastest qualifiers advanced to the second and final round, where they contested for the pole position.
Majeski posted the fastest lap during the first qualifying round at 177.287 mph in 54.014 seconds. After being one of 10 competitors to transfer to the second round, the Seymour, Wisconsin, native posted the fastest lap at 177.389 mph in 53.983 seconds. Majeski’s single lap run in the final session was enough for him and his No. 88 Menards/ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 team to snag the top-starting spot at the 2.660-mile tri-oval superspeedway venue in Lincoln, Alabama.
With the pole, Majeski achieved his third NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series pole position of the 2026, his first since Michigan International Speedway in June and the 14th of his career, which ties him with Corey Heim for the eighth-most poles in the Truck division. Majeski also achieved his fourth on a superspeedway venue and his first at Talladega. Majeski, who is currently ranked in fifth place in the 2026 Chase standings, trails the points lead by 135 points as he strives to both achieve his first victory of this season and remain strking distance of contending for his second championship with three-scheduled events remaining.
Majeski will share the front row with Sammy Smith, the latter of whom is making his penultimate Truck Series start of the 2026 season and was announced to drive for TRICON Garage for the 2027 Truck season. Smith, who was the fifth-fastet during the first round, posted the second-fastest lap in the latest round at 177.173 mph in 54.049 seconds.
Points leader Kaden Honeycutt, teammate Giovanni Ruggiero and rookie Cole Butcher will start in the top five, respectively. Newcomer Austin Green, Tyler Ankrum, Corey Heim, Layne Riggs and Ben Rhodes, all of whom transferred to the second and final qualifying round along with Majeski, Smith, Honeycutt, Ruggiero and Butcher, completed the top-10 starting grid, respectively.
With six Chase contenders (Majeski, Honeycutt, Ruggiero, Ankrum, Riggs and Rhodes) set to start in the top-10 mark for Friday afternoon’s main event at Talladega, the remaining Chasers that include Chandler Smith, Grant Enfinger, Christian Eckes and Daniel Hemric will start 14th, 18th, 20th and 27th, respectively.
Notably, Cleetus McFarland, who is making his third Truck career start with Niece Motorsports, will start in 24th place while Tony Stewart, who is making his second Truck start of the 2026 season with Kaulig Racing, will start in 29th place. In addition, Brenden Queen, Stewart’s teammate, was the lone competitor who did not post a qualifying lap. With his No. 12 Kaulig Racing RAM entry ranked in 21st place in the owner’s standings, he obtained the final-starting spot for Friday’s main event.
With 38 competitors vying for 36 starting spots, Norm Benning and Bryan Dauzat were the two who failed to qualify for the main event.
Talladega – Starting Lineup:
- Ty Majeski, 177.389 mph, 53.983 seconds
- Sammy Smith, 177.173 mph, 54.049 seconds
- Kaden Honeycutt, 176.676 mph, 54.201 seconds
- Giovanni Ruggiero, 176.666 mph, 54.204 seconds
- Cole Butcher, 176.565 mph, 54.235 seconds
- Austin Green, 176.324 mph, 54.309 seconds
- Tyler Ankrum, 176.120 mph, 54.372 seconds
- Corey Heim, 175.848 mph, 54.456 seconds
- Layne Riggs, 175.410 mph, 54.592 seconds
- Ben Rhodes, 174.971 mph, 54.729 seconds
- Jake Garcia, 175.552 mph, 54.548 seconds
- Kris Wright, 175.526 mph, 54.556 seconds
- Tanner Gray, 175.375 mph, 54.603 seconds
- Chandler Smith, 175.218 mph, 54.652 seconds
- Stewart Friesen, 175.211 mph, 54.654 seconds
- Cory Roper, 175.096 mph, 54.960 seconds
- Justin Haley, 175.048 mph, 54.705 seconds
- Grant Enfinger, 174.939 mph, 54.739 seconds
- Thomas Annunziata, 174.863 mph, 54.763 seconds
- Christian Eckes, 174.824 mph, 54.775 seconds
- Clay Greenfield, 174.776 mph, 54.790 seconds
- Corey LaJoie, 174.639 mph, 54.833 seconds
- Mini Tyrrell, 174.623 mph, 54.838 seconds
- Cleetus McFarland, 174.461 mph, 54.889 seconds
- Andres Perez De Lara, 174.433 mph, 54.898 seconds
- Dawson Sutton, 174.423 mph, 54.901 seconds
- Daniel Hemric, 174.369 mph, 54.918 seconds
- Conner Jones, 174.296 mph, 54.941 seconds
- Tony Stewart, 174.036 mph, 55.023 seconds
- Landen Lewis, 173.976 mph, 55.042 seconds
- Frankie Muniz, 173.790 mph, 55.101 seconds
- Spencer Boyd, 173.629 mph, 55.152 seconds
- Josh Reaume, 173.620 mph, 55.155 seconds
- Jason White, 173.538 mph, 55.181 seconds
- Timmy Hill, 173.312 mph, 55.253 seconds
- Brenden Queen, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds
*Bold indicates Chase Drivers
The 2026 Love’s RV Stop 225 at Talladega Superspeedway is scheduled to occur on Friday, October 23, at 4 p.m. ET on FS1, NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM.
