Ryan Blaney sped to the Busch Light Pole Award for the 2026 Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, on Saturday, July 11.
The event’s starting lineup was determined through a two-round qualifying session. The first session featured 38 competitors battling for 38 starting spots, cycling once around the track to post the fastest lap. At the conclusion of the first session, the top-10 fastest qualifiers transferred to the second and final round, where they contested for the pole position.
During the session, Blaney was the fastest qualifier following the first qualifying session with a lap at 179.796 mph in 30.835 seconds. After being one of 10 competitors to transfer to the final qualifying round, he doubled down with another fast lap at 179.912 mph in 30.815 seconds. Blaney’s lap was enough for the 2023 Cup Series champion to qualify with the top-starting spot for Sunday’s main event.
With the pole, Blaney notched his 14th NASCAR Cup Series pole for his 398th career start, his second at Atlanta’s EchoPark Speedway, his second of the 2026 season and first since Bristol Motor Speedway in early April. He also recorded the third Cup pole of this season for Team Penske and for Ford.
After achieving his first goal of qualifying on pole position, Blaney, who is ranked in third place in the 2026 Cup Series standings, shifts his focus on managing his No. 12 BODYARMOR/Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry for Sunday night’s main event that would enable him to contend for his second overall victory at the venue and first since the venue was reconfigured prior to the start of the 2022 season.
“Yeah, that’s always the big debate: how’s [the car] going to react tomorrow in the race, in traffic as the track changes, and as you get laps on the tires, all that stuff,” Blaney said. “You hope you have a decent handle on, but the goal for today was to try and qualify the best we could, and we were able to do that. So, I appreciate everyone on this No. 12 car for bringing me a fast car. It’s great to have a Team Penske front row. That part is great, and I’m look forward tomorrow to see what we have in the draft. Hopefully, we can hang in there and contend for the win.”
Blaney will share the front row with teammate Joey Logano, the latter of whom posted the second-fastest qualifying lap between the first two rounds. Logano’s latest lap that netted him the runner-up starting spot was at 179.702 mph in 30.851 seconds. Kyle Larson, Austin Dillon and Daniel Suarez qualified in the top five, respectively. Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, Austin Cindric, Ross Chastain and Brad Keselowski, all of whom transferred to the second and final qualifying round along with the top-five qualifiers, completed the top-10 starting grid.
With 38 competitors vying for 38 starting spots, all made the main event.
EchoPark Speedway – Qualifying Position, Best Speed, Best Time:
- Ryan Blaney, 179.912 mph, 30.815 seconds
- Joey Logano, 179.702 mph, 30.851 seconds
- Kyle Larson, 179.406 mph, 30.902 seconds
- Austin Dillon, 179.394 mph, 30.904 seconds
- Daniel Suarez, 179.359 mph, 30.910 seconds
- Alex Bowman, 179.226 mph, 30.933 seconds
- Chase Elliott, 179.203 mph, 30.937 seconds
- Austin Cindric, 179.191 mph, 30.939 seconds
- Ross Chastain, 178.977 mph, 30.976 seconds
- Brad Keselowski, 178.729 mph, 31.019 seconds.
- Erik Jones, 178.683 mph, 31.027 seconds
- Shane van Gisbergen, 178.660 mph, 31.031 seconds
- Chris Buescher, 178.465 mph, 31.065 seconds
- Carson Hocevar, 178.413 mph, 31.074 seconds
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 178.378 mph, 31.080 seconds
- Ty Dillon, 178.361 mph, 31.083 seconds
- Josh Berry, 178.292 mph, 31.095 seconds
- Michael McDowell, 178.264 mph, 31.100 seconds
- Ryan Preece, 178.212 mph, 31.109 seconds
- Chase Briscoe, 178.195 mph, 31.112 seconds
- Todd Gilliland, 178.155 mph, 31.119 seconds
- Bubba Wallace, 178.098 mph, 31.129 seconds
- Ty Gibbs, 177.983 mph, 31.149 seconds
- John Hunter Nemechek, 177.829 mph, 31.176 seconds
- Connor Zilisch, 177.698 mph, 31.199 seconds
- William Byron, 177.664 mph, 31.205 seconds
- AJ Allmendinger, 177.624 mph, 31.212 seconds
- Denny Hamlin, 177.363 mph, 31.258 seconds
- Riley Herbst, 177.306 mph, 31.268 seconds
- Austin Hill, 177.215 mph, 31.284 seconds
- Tyler Reddick, 177.091 mph, 31.306 seconds
- Christopher Bell, 177.017 mph, 31.319 seconds
- Cole Custer, 176.995 mph, 31.323 seconds
- Zane Smith, 176.949 mph, 31.331 seconds
- Cody Ware, 176.476 mph, 31.415 seconds
- Noah Gragson, 176.207 mph, 31.463 seconds
- BJ McLeod, 174.653 mph, 31.743 seconds
- Cody Ware, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds
The 2026 Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway is scheduled for Sunday, July 12, at 7 p.m. ET on TNT Sports, PRN Radio, and SiriusXM.
