Alex Bowman continued his solid effort in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs on Friday, securing the pole position for Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

In the final round of times trials at the 0.533-mile high-banked concrete track, Bowman sped around the World’s Fastest Half Mile in 15.142 seconds (126.720 mph) in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy—the fastest lap of the day—to earn his first Busch Light Pole Award of the season by 0.003 seconds over Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron (126.695 mph).

Because Bowman and Byron both qualified in Group B, Byron will start third, with fellow Hendrick driver Kyle Larson (fastest from Group A at 126.378 mph) on the front row beside Bowman.

After finishing fifth at Atlanta and 18th at Watkins Glen, Bowman enters the elimination race fourth in the Playoff standings, 41 points above the current cut line for the Round of 12. After Saturday’s race, the bottom four of the 16 Playoff drivers will be eliminated from title eligibility.

“In qualifying, I had a lot of grip,” said Bowman, who won his first pole at Bristol and the fifth of his career. “I was a little bit too tight. It was one of those situations where you run a lap, and it’s either going to be really good or really slow. When you’re tight, you slow down so you can turn.

“Obviously, after the first round (where he tied Chase Briscoe for the fastest lap), I felt really good about it. Thankful to start up front and qualify well. Obviously, qualifying has been not our strongest suit over the years, so being the cutoff race and everything, starting up front is really important.”

With Chase Elliott claiming the 10th spot on the grid, all four Hendrick drivers advanced to the final round.
Martin Truex Jr., who starts the Night Race 15th in the standings and 14 points below the cut line, helped his chances with a qualifying effort that earned the fourth starting spot.

Likewise, teammate Denny Hamlin—six points on the wrong side of the bubble—hopes to make good use of his eighth-place qualifying effort. Hamlin has won the last two races at Thunder Valley.

Briscoe will start fifth, one position ahead of points leader Christopher Bell. Non-Playoff drivers Carson Hocevar and Corey LaJoie, both of Spire Motorsports, will take the green flag from the seventh and ninth positions, respectively.
Other Playoff drivers qualified as follows: Ty Gibbs 13th, Tyler Reddick 15th, Joey Logano (already locked into the Round of 12 with a victory at Atlanta) 20th, defending series champion Ryan Blaney 22nd, Austin Cindric 27th, Harrison Burton 34th and Daniel Suarez 35th.

Burton has the highest mountain to climb. He’s 16th in the Playoff standings, 20 points below the cutoff with elimination looming.

To purchase tickets to the Bass Pro Shops Night race, please visit the BMS website or call the BMS Ticket Sales Center at (866) 415-4158.

- Story by NASCAR Newswire

The Starting Lineup for Saturday's Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway:

1. Alex Bowman
2. Kyle Larson
3. William Byron
4. Martin Truex Jr.
5. Chase Briscoe
6. Christopher Bell
7. Carson Hocevar
8. Denny Hamlin
9. Corey LaJoie
10. Chase Elliott
11. Bubba Wallace
12. Ross Chastain
13. Ty Gibbs
14. Ryan Preece
15. Tyler Reddick
16. Noah Gragson
17. Chris Buescher
18. Michael McDowell
19. AJ Allmendinger
20. Joey Logano
21. Daniel Hemric
22. Ryan Blaney
23. Brad Keselowski
24. Todd Gilliland
25. Josh Berry
26. Justin Haley
27. Austin Cindric
28. John Hunter Nemechek
29. Kyle Busch
30. Austin Dillon
31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
32. Erik Jones
33. Zane Smith
34. Harrison Burton
35. Daniel Suarez
36. Kaz Grala
37. Josh Bilicki