Matt Kenseth’s son, Ross, to start second in tonight’s 300-mile race
RELATED: Full starting lineup
Propelling his No. 33 Richard Childress Chevrolet at 176.569 mph, Austin Dillon won the Coors Light Pole Award at Chicagoland Speedway during Saturday’s three-round knockout qualifying. His fifth XFINITY pole of 2015, Dillon will start on the front row in Sunday’s Owens Corning Atticat 300 (noon ET, FOX Sports 2, MRN, SiriusXM).
Making his XFINITY Series debut this weekend, Ross Kenseth — son of Sprint Cup Series driver Matt Kenseth — earned his stripes, nabbing the second spot on the front row. Kenseth’s 176.557-mph qualifying lap matched third-place Elliott Sadler‘s speed, but owner points from Kenseth’s Joe Gibbs Racing team awarded the No. 20 driver the second spot, leaving Roush Fenway Racing‘s Sadler with third. JR Motorsports’ Regan Smith (176.183 mph) and Richard Childress Racing‘s Brendan Gaughan (176.154 mph) rounded out the top five.
With a fast speed of 176.051 mph, current series champion Chase Elliott just missed out on a top-five qualifying spot, and will roll off the grid sixth in his No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet tonight.
After leading the opening round of qualifying, Ryan Blaney hit the wall hard during the second round and the No. 22 Team Penske team was forced to go to a backup car. As a result, Blaney will start from the rear of the field in tonight’s 300-mile event.
The opening round saw two cautions brought out by spins in Turn 2: First from Bobby Gerhart and minutes later, from Joey Gase.