Ross Chastain snaps eight-year O’Reilly poleless streak at Dover

Ross Chastain claimed the pole position for the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series’ BetRivers 200 at Dover Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 16.

The event’s qualifying format consisted of a single round with each of the 38 competitors cycling twice around Dover to post the fastest lap. The competitor who posted the fastest lap within the two qualifying laps was awarded the pole position.

During the session, Chastain, who was the 21st-fastest competitor during Saturday’s practice session, utilized his two qualifying laps to post a pole-winning lap at 154.394 mph in 23.317 seconds.

With the pole, Chastain achieved his second career O’Reilly Auto Parts Series pole position and his first since Darlington Raceway in September 2018. Saturday’s main event at Dover is scheduled to mark Chastain’s 219th O’Reilly career start and sixth of this season, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro entry for JR Motorsports.

Chastain will share the front row with Brandon Jones, the latter of whom posted the second-fastest qualifying lap at 154.030 mph in 23.372 seconds. Jones, who qualified in the top-five mark for a seventh time this season and second on the front row, is currently ranked in fourth place in the 2026 driver’s standings and trails the points lead by 207 points as he continues his season-long pursuit to make the Chase and contend for the series’ championship.

Corey Day, Rajah Caruth and Taylor Gray, the latter of whom was the fastest in practice, will start in the top five, respectively. Sam Mayer, Carson Kvapil, William Sawalich (second fastest in practice), Harrison Burton and Jesse Love completed the top-10 starting grid, respectively.

With 38 competitors vying for 38 starting spots, all made the main event.

Dover – Qualifying Position, Best Speed, Best Time:

1. Ross Chastain, 154.394 mph, 23.317 seconds
2. Brandon Jones, 154.030 mph, 23.372 seconds
3. Corey Day, 153.741 mph, 23.416 seconds
4. Rajah Caruth, 153.472 mph, 23.457 seconds
5. Taylor Gray, 153.374 mph, 23.472 seconds
6. Sam Mayer, 153.276 mph, 23.487 seconds
7. Carson Kvapil, 152.866 mph, 23.550 seconds
8. William Sawalich, 152.704 mph, 23.575 seconds
9. Harrison Burton, 152.542 mph, 23.600 seconds
10. Jesse Love, 152.252 mph, 23.645 seconds
11. Ryan Sieg, 152.226 mph, 23.649 seconds
12. Sheldon Creed, 152.021 mph, 021 seconds
13. Justin Allgaier, 151.771 mph, 23.720 seconds
14. Parker Retzlaff, 151.771 mph, 23.720 seconds
15. Jeb Burton, 151.636 mph, 23.741 seconds
16. Brent Crews, 151.394 mph, 23.779 seconds
17. Austin Hill, 151.197 mph, 23.810 seconds
18. Sammy Smith, 151.064 mph, 23.831 seconds
19. BJ McLeod, 150.798 mph, 23.873 seconds
20. Brennan Poole, 150.697 mph, 23.889 seconds
21. Jeremy Clements, 150.615 mph, 23.902 seconds
22. Dean Thompson, 150.521 mph, 23.917 seconds
23. Lavar Scott, 150.470 mph, 23.925 seconds
24. Kyle Sieg, 150.263 mph, 23.958 seconds
25. Myatt Snider, 149.682 mph, 24.051 seconds
26. Austin Green, 149.489 mph, 24.082 seconds
27. Anthony Alfredo, 149.074 mph, 24.149 seconds
28. Patrick Staropoli, 148.736 mph, 24.204 seconds
29. Blaine Perkins, 148.637 mph, 24.220 seconds
30. Garrett Smithley, 148.289 mph, 24.277 seconds
31. Andrew Patterson, 148.160 mph, 24.298 seconds
32. Ryan Ellis, 147.131 mph, 24.468 seconds
33. Blake Lothian, 146.711 mph, 24.538 seconds
34. Josh Bilicki, 146.651 mph, 24.548 seconds
35. Dawson Cram, 145.950 mph, 24.666 seconds
36. Logan Bearden, 145.596 mph, 24.726 seconds
37. CJ McLaughlin, 144.364 mph, 24.937 seconds
38. David Starr, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds

The 2026 BetRivers 200 at Dover Motor Speedway is scheduled to occur on Saturday, May 16, and air at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network, PRN Radio and SiriusXM.