Rookie Taylor Gray notched his second NASCAR Xfinity Series career pole position for the BetMGM 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 24.
The event’s starting lineup was determined through a standard practice and qualifying procedure, where the field was split into two 25-minute practice sessions apiece before rejoining forces and participating in one single-lap qualifying session (impound). The groups and qualifying order were determined by metrics that included 70% based on previous race finish by owner and 30% based on owner points standings, with the best-scoring competitors placed in the second group.
During the qualifying session, Gray, who was the ninth-fastest competitor during the event’s lone practice session on Saturday, posted his best qualifying lap at 176.482 mph in 30.598 seconds. The lap was enough for the 25-year-old Rookie-of-the-Year candidate from Artesia, New Mexico, to claim the top-starting spot for an Xfinity event for the second time in his career.
With the pole, Gray, whose first career pole occurred at Homestead-Miami Speedway in late March, became the first competitor of this season to record a first two career poles in the same season. He also recorded the 197th Xfinity pole overall for Joe Gibbs Racing and the sixth for the organization at Charlotte.
“Starting [the] the front row, it makes your day easier, for sure,” Gray said. “I can’t thank everybody from Joe Gibbs Racing. They brought me a really fast Operation 300 GR Supra. [I] Was a little, maybe a tad concerned in practice, but I felt like we turned it around there, at least for one solid lap. [I] Can’t thank everybody enough. I feel like we’re as fast as Xfinity Mobile. [We’ll] Go see here in a few hours.”
Gray will share the front row with rookie Connor Zilisch, the latter of whom posted his best qualifying lap at 176.315 mph in 30.627 seconds. Saturday’s Xfinity event at Charlotte will mark Zilisch’s return to NASCAR competition following a one-race hiatus, where he was absent from competing at Texas Motor Speedway in early May due to recovering from a lower back injury sustained from a last-lap accident at Talladega Superspeedway in late April.
Austin Hill, William Byron and Brandon Jones will start in the top five, respectively. Rookie William Sawalich, Ryan Sieg, Sheldon Creed, Chase Briscoe and Justin Allgaier completed the top-10 starting grid, respectively.
Notably, the following names that included Sam Mayer, rookie Carson Kvapil, Sammy Smith, Jeb Burton, rookie Christian Eckes, rookie Nick Sanchez, Jesse Love, Austin Dillon, Jeremy Clements, rookie Dean Thompson, rookie Daniel Dye, Harrison Burton, Josh Williams and Katherine Legge qualified 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 27th and 32nd, respectively.
With 40 competitors vying for 38 starting spots, Carson Ware and Dawson Cram were the two competitors who failed to qualify for the event.
Qualifying position, best speed, best time:
1. Taylor Gray, 176.482 mph, 30.598 seconds
2. Connor Zilisch, 176.315 mph, 30.627 seconds
3. Austin Hill, 176.194 mph, 30.648 seconds
4. William Byron, 176.171 mph, 30.652 seconds
5. Brandon Jones, 175.610 mph, 30.750 seconds
6. William Sawalich, 175.182 mph, 30.852 seconds
7. Ryan Sieg, 175.029 mph, 30.852 seconds
8. Sheldon Creed, 175.029 mph, 30.852 seconds
9. Chase Briscoe, 174.865 mph, 30.881 seconds
10. Justin Allgaier, 174.859 mph, 30.882 seconds
11. Sam Mayer, 174.650 mph, 30.919 seconds
12. Carson Kvapil, 174.644 mph, 30.920 seconds
13. Sammy Smith, 174.469 mph, 30.951 seconds
14. Jeb Burton, 174.452 mph, 30.954 seconds
15. Christian Eckes, 174.362 mph, 30.970 seconds
16. Matt DiBenedetto, 174.306 mph, 30.980 seconds
17. Anthony Alfredo, 174.289 mph, 30.983 seconds
18. Nick Sanchez, 173.969 mph, 31.040 seconds
19. Jesse Love, 173.533 mph, 31.118 seconds
20. Austin Dillon, 173.177 mph, 31.182 seconds
21. Blaine Perkins, 172.916 mph, 31.229 seconds
22. Jeremy Clements, 172.811 mph, 31.248 seconds
23. Dean Thompson, 172.518 mph, 31.301 seconds
24. Daniel Dye, 172.062 mph, 31.384 seconds
25. Harrison Burton, 171.832 mph, 31.426 seconds
26. Brennan Poole, 171.581 mph, 31.472 seconds
27. Josh Williams, 171.114 mph, 31.558 seconds
28. Kyle Sieg, 170.919 mph, 31.594 seconds
29. JJ Yeley, 170.762 mph, 31.623 seconds
30. Ryan Ellis, 170.519 mph, 31.668 seconds
31. Leland Honeyman, 170.519 mph, 31.668 seconds
32. Katherine Legge, 170.304 mph, 31.708 seconds
33. Kris Wright, 170.052 mph, 31.755 seconds
34. Parker Retzlaff, 169.545 mph, 31.850 seconds
35. Garrett Smithley, 169.004 mph, 31.952 seconds
36. Brad Perez, 168.998 mph, 31.953 seconds
37. Nick Leitz, 165.812 mph, 32.567 seconds
38. CJ McLaughlin, 162.950 mph, 33.139 seconds
The 2025 BetMGM 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway is set to occur on Saturday, May 24, and air at 4:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
