NASCAR Cup Series at Road America starting lineup: Chase Elliott snipes second pole of 2022

Chase Elliott won the pole for the Kwik Trip 250 at Road America in dramatic fashion, laying down his fast lap in the final seconds of the final round of qualifying to take the top spot from Chase Briscoe. Elliott’s lap of 134.427 (108.407 MPH) gave him his second pole of the 2022 season as he looks to defend his Road America win from a year ago.

Following their struggles at Sonoma, Toyota teams were notably absent from the top 10, including the No. 18 of Kyle Busch. After qualifying 13th, USA Network’s broadcast reported that Busch’s team found something they did not like in the engine, prompting them to change the motor on Busch’s car. Busch will start at the rear of the field on Sunday as a result of the engine change.

The most pleasant surprise of qualifying was the effort turned in by veteran road racer Joey Hand. After making the final round of qualifying, Hand qualified his Rick Ware Racing No. 15 in ninth, giving the team one of the best qualifying efforts they’ve had in their history.

The lone team to have issues in pre-qualifying tech inspection was Team Hezeberg, which is making its third start of the season with driver Loris Hezemans. According to Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports, Hezemans’ team failed tech inspection twice, leading to a loss of pit selection and a crewmember being ejected from the weekend.

Kwik Trip 250 starting lineup

1. #9 – Chase Elliott
2. #14 – Chase Briscoe
3. #5 – Kyle Larson
4. #8 – Tyler Reddick
5. #2 – Austin Cindric (R)
6. #34 – Michael McDowell
7. #17 – Chris Buescher
8. #48 – Alex Bowman
9. #15 – Joey Hand
10. #41 – Cole Custer
11. #6 – Brad Keselowski
12. #1 – Ross Chastain
13. #18 – Kyle Busch
14. #11 – Denny Hamlin
15. #19 – Martin Truex Jr.
16. #20 – Christopher Bell
17. #99 – Daniel Suarez
18. #22 – Joey Logano
19. #12 – Ryan Blaney
20. #3 – Austin Dillon
21. #16 – A.J. Allmendinger
22. #45 – Kurt Busch
23. #21 – Harrison Burton (R)
24. #10 – Aric Almirola
25. #23 – Bubba Wallace
26. #77 – Josh Bilicki
27. #43 – Erik Jones
28. #4 – Kevin Harvick
29. #24 – William Byron
30. #42 – Ty Dillon
31. #51 – Cody Ware
32. #38 – Todd Gilliland (R)
33. #47 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
34. #31 – Justin Haley
35. #7 – Corey LaJoie
36. #27 – Loris Hezemans
37. #78 – Kyle Tilley