For the second consecutive, Carl Edwards will begin as fastest qualifier. He will have plenty of company. Matt Kenseth joins Edwards on the front row, and all four Gibbs Toyotas are in the top five positions.
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Friday’s qualifying set the 40-car field for Sunday’s Food City 500. The race will go off at 1:13 p.m. ET at the 0.533-mile track in eastern Tennessee.
“This place is really complicated and my guys did a really good job making the car drive well on all different segments,” Edwards told media members.
“You would think it would be simple since [the track is] so small, but getting the cars into the banking and everything changes and you have to manage it from a setup perspective and my guys did a great job with that.”
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Here is the starting lineup.
“It’s always exciting qualifying here at Bristol,” Logano said. “I’m not sure I’m holding my breath, but I’m breathing really hard when I’m done, so I’m thinking I probably do hold my breath.”
Bayne said qualifying 10th was a nice surprise.
Coming to a short track we know that’s not our strongest suit, especially in qualifying when you’re asking the most out of the race car," he said. “Normally, we can make the long run speed, but to have short run speed and get a good qualifying spot here at Bristol is a big deal.”
Saturday bring the weekend’s Xfinity Series race, for which the field will be set earlier in the day. Kyle Busch won the past two Sprint Cup races, at Martinsville and Texas. He also won the Truck Series race at Martinsville and the Xfinity race at Texas, giving him a rare four consecutive victories.
