Ben Rhodes scored the pole position for the 2026 SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday, May 1.
The event’s starting lineup was determined through a single-truck, single-lap qualifying format. In this format, all 35 competitors vying for 35 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, Rhodes, who was the second-fastest competitor during Friday’s practice session, clocked in a single pole-winning lap at 185.096 mph in 29.174 seconds. The lap was enough for Rhodes and his No. 99 TYM/ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 team to claim the top-starting spot over teammate Jake Garcia and the No. 98 Quanta/Curb Records/ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 team, the latter of whom were the fastest during practice.
With the pole, Rhodes, who is in his 11th consecutive season as a full-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor, achieved his seventh career pole position and his first of the 2026 season. He also recorded his first pole at Texas Motor Speedway and his first since the 2025 season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway.
Rhodes is currently ranked in sixth place in the 2026 driver’s standings and has recorded a pair of top-five results through the first six scheduled events. He will strive to both win for the first time at Texas and erase a 66-race deficit, with his latest victory occurring at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May 2023.
Rhodes will share the front row with teammate Jake Garcia, the latter of whom qualified with a single-qualifying lap at 184.925 mph in 29.201 seconds. Giovanni Ruggiero and Cole Butcher, the latter of whom drives for ThorSport Racing, will start third and fourth, respectively. Tanner Gray qualified in fifth place. Kyle Busch, Stewart Friesen, Chandler Smith, Grant Enfinger and Kaden Honeycutt completed the top-10 starting lineup.
Carson Hocevar, who is coming off his first Cup Series career victory at Talladega Superspeedway and is driving the No. 77 Chili’s Ride the ‘Dente Chevrolet Silverado RST entry for Spire Motorsports, will start in 11th place. In addition, Parker Kligerman, who is driving the No. 25 ‘Free Agent’ RAM 1500 entry for Kaulig Racing, will start in 19th place.
Notably, Layne Riggs will start in 34th place after he lost power during his qualifying attempt. In addition, Cory Roper will start at the tail end of the field in 35th place after he damaged the right side of his No. 62 Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota entry against the Turn 4 wall during practice.
With 35 competitors vying for 35 starting spots, all made the main event.
Texas – Qualifying Position, Best Speed, Best Time:
- Ben Rhodes, 185.096 mph, 29.174 seconds
- Jake Garcia, 184.925 mph, 29.201 seconds
- Giovanni Ruggiero, 184.811 mph, 29.219 seconds
- Cole Butcher, 184.767 mph, 29.226 seconds
- Tanner Gray, 184.313 mph, 29.298 seconds
- Kyle Busch, 184.288 mph, 29.302 seconds
- Stewart Friesen, 184.275 mph, 29.304 seconds
- Chandler Smith, 184.137 mph, 29.326 seconds
- Grant Enfinger, 184.131 mph, 29.327 seconds
- Kaden Honeycutt, 184.074 mph, 29.336 seconds
- Carson Hocevar, 183.773 mph, 29.384 seconds
- Christian Eckes, 183.698 mph, 29.396 seconds
- Tyler Ankrum, 183.648 mph, 29.404 seconds
- Daniel Hemric, 183.636 mph, 29.406 seconds
- Andres Perez De Lara, 183.567 mph, 29.417 seconds
- Conner Jones, 183.355 mph, 29.451 seconds
- Brenden Queen, 183.324 mph, 29.456 seconds
- Brandon Jones, 183.306 mph, 29.459 seconds
- Parker Kligerman, 183.225 mph, 29.472 seconds
- Ty Majeski, 183.094 mph, 29.493 seconds
- William Sawalich, 183.026 mph, 29.504 seconds
- Dawson Sutton, 182.865 mph, 29.530 seconds
- Ross Chastain, 182.852 mph, 29.532 seconds
- Justin Haley, 182.537 mph, 29.583 seconds
- Corey LaJoie, 181.959 mph, 29.677 seconds
- Kris Wright, 181.622 mph, 29.732 seconds
- Toni Breidinger, 181.117 mph, 29.815 seconds
- Mini Tyrrell, 180.234 mph, 29.961 seconds
- Clayton Green, 178.548 mph, 30.244 seconds
- Spencer Boyd, 178.459 mph, 30.259 seconds
- Josh Reaume, 175.970 mph, 30.687 seconds
- Frankie Muniz, Owner Points
- Caleb Costner, Owner Points
- Layne Riggs, Owner Points
- Cory Roper, Owner Points
The 2026 SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway is scheduled to occur on Friday, May 1, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, NASCAR Racing Network and SiriusXM.
