The situation and conditions were different Saturday, but the results were the same for NASCAR Cup Series driver Aric Almirola.
Piloting the No. 10 Ford on the reconfigured and repaved Atlanta Motor Speedway, Almirola earned the pole position for Sunday’s Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart. He turned a hot lap of 177.346 mph, edging Ryan Blaney (177.266), who will begin on the outside of the front row.
Almirola last started P1 at Atlanta in 2019 and he drove a Gen 6 machine on a beat-up pavement. Saturday, he was in a Next Gen car with a superspeedway race package.
“It was an exciting lap-we’ve been working really hard to bring more speed to the race track, and it’s great to get a pole,” he said, as reported by NASCAR.com.
Ford dominated the qualifying session, capturing the top six spots.
Almirola’s teammate at Stewart-Haas Racing, Chase Briscoe, will start third and Joey Logano, the defending Cup Series champion, begins fourth. Harrison Burton opens fifth and Kevin Harvick, another Stewart-Haas driver, sixth.
Logano captured the spring event at Atlanta.
Hard work is showing. 👊@Aric_Almirola is ready to start and end the race P1. pic.twitter.com/a9xoWA6uTt
— Stewart-Haas Racing (@StewartHaasRcng) July 8, 2023
Atlanta Officials Instituting 2 Pit Road Speed Limits
More changes are coming to Atlanta Motor Speedway.
NASCAR Cup Series officials established new pit-road standards for Sunday’s Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart race.
When the Peach State’s track underwent a reconfiguration beginning in 2021, the alterations helped create superspeedway-style racing along the 1.54-mile track. When the pit entrance along Turn 3 was extended for the spring race at track, a 45-mph speed limit was established, but some drivers lost valuable time and laps.
To help make pit road fairer under green-flag conditions, drivers will be capped at 90 mph along sections 1 and 2. Then, for sections 3 through 18, the speed limit changes to 45 mph.
“It’ll certainly be different having two gears,” Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott said, as reported by NASCAR.com. “Having a taller gear for your fast section and then having to downshift to get to your normal pit-road speed is definitely something that I don’t think I’ve ever done before. I don’t know that that’s going to change the dynamic of the race a whole lot. I think it’s going to take a little getting used to from a driver’s standpoint just to do that and to do it efficiently.”
This image really puts into perspective the length of pit road at Atlanta Motor Speedway. pic.twitter.com/92QFk4DY07
— Anthony Alfredo (@anthonyalfredo) March 18, 2023
Starting Lineup for NASCAR Cup Series’ Quaker State 400
Here is a look at the lineup for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series’ Quaker 400 Available at Walmart at Atlanta Motor Speedway:
Starting Position, Driver, Car No., Team
- 1, Aric Almirola, 10, Stewart-Haas Racing
- 2, Ryan Blaney, 12, Team Penske
- 3, Chase Briscoe, 14, Stewart-Haas Racing
- 4, Joey Logano, 22, Team Penske
- 5, Harrison Burton, 21, Wood Brothers Racing
- 6, Kevin Harvick, 4, Stewart-Haas Racing
- 7, Ty Gibbs, 54, Joe Gibbs Racing
- 8, Kyle Larson, 5, Hendrick Motorsports
- 9, Todd Gilliland, 38, Front Row Motorsports
- 10, Austin Cindric, 2, Team Penske
- 11, Brad Keselowski, 6, RFK Racing
- 12, Tyler Reddick, 45, 23XI Racing
- 13, Ryan Preece, 41, Stewart-Haas Racing
- 14, Denny Hamlin, 11, Joe Gibbs Racing
- 15, Chris Buescher, 17, RFK Racing
- 16, Martin Truex Jr., 19, Joe Gibbs Racing
- 17, Justin Haley, 31, Kaulig Racing
- 18, William Byron, 24, Hendrick Motorsports
- 19, AJ Allmendinger, 16, Kaulig Racing
- 20, Michael McDowell, 34, Front Row Motorsports
- 21, Cole Custer, 51, Rick Ware Racing
- 22, Kyle Busch, 8, Richard Childress Racing
- 23, Chase Elliott, 9, Hendrick Motorsports
- 24, JJ Yeley, 15, Rick Ware Racing
- 25, Erik Jones, 43, Legacy Motor Club
- 26, Daniel Suarez, 99, Trackhouse Racing
- 27, Ty Dillon, 77, Spire Motorsports
- 28, Corey LaJoie, 7, Spire Motorsports
- 29, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 47, JTG Daugherty Racing
- 30, Ross Chastain, 1, Trackhouse Racing
- 31, Noah Gragson, 42, Legacy Motor Club
- 32, Austin Hill, 62, Beard Motorsports
- 33, Austin Dillon, 3, Richard Childress Racing
- 34, Christopher Bell, 20, Joe Gibbs Racing
- 35, BJ McLeod, 78, Live Fast Motorsports
- 36, Alex Bowman, 48, Hendrick Motorsports
- 37, Bubba Wallace, 23, 23XI Racing
Good question, Alex. pic.twitter.com/3XSbWHnbpr
— Aric Almirola (@Aric_Almirola) July 9, 2023
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