In pre-qualifying inspection, three Fords from three different teams had issues. The No. 2 Team Penske Ford of Austin Cindric, the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford of Todd Gilliland and the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Ryan Preece all failed twice.
As a result, the car chief from each team has been ejected and all drivers have lost their pit selection.
Round 1
Fords continued their recent run of dominating the qualifying sessions at drafting tracks. Riley Herbst led the first round at 181.653mph. He was among seven Fords in the pole round.
All three Team Penske drivers (Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Cindric) were among those who advanced.
Kyle Larson and William Byron were the only Chevrolet drivers inside the top-ten, with Bubba Wallace holding the banner for Toyota.
Others also moving into the second round included Almirola, Chase Briscoe and Brad Keselowski.
Looking at the playoff drivers that failed to advance, Denny Hamlin will start 12th, Tyler Reddick 13th, Christopher Bell 15th, Martin Truex Jr. 16th, Chris Buescher 24th, Kyle Busch 25th, and Ross Chastain 32nd.
Round 2
In the final round, the Ford domination continued with Almirola claiming pole position with a lap of 181.656mph, beating Logano by just 0.004s. It was Almirola sixth career pole and his second of the 2023 season. It is the first time in his Cup career that he has earned multiple Cup poles in the same year.
Briscoe was third, Larson fourth, and Keselowski fifth. Herbst, Cindric, Byron, Wallace, and Blaney rounded out the top-ten.
“These races come down to pit stops, really, track position at the end,” Almirola told NBC. “So, having a pit stall, having a clean-in and clean-out, stuff like that, that all matters. I’m just really proud of Drew (Blickensderfer, crew chief) and all the guys on this No. 10 team. We’ve been working so hard to put speed in these (cars). Doug Yates obviously brings a ton of horsepower when we come to these type race tracks.
“Thank you to all the men and women at Stewart-Haas Racing. It’s not a secret – it’s been a tough year for us. To show that kind of grit and resolve and for everybody to continue to grind and work and bring fast race cars to the race track, that says a lot about our race team.
“The driver has a small part to do with it, but a lot of it is the speed built into the car.”