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Austin Dillon ruled qualifying for the NASCAR XFINITY Series on Friday afternoon, securing the Coors Light Pole Award at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Dillon drove the Richard Childress Racing No. 33 Chevrolet to a fast lap of 183.524 mph on the 1.5-mile track. Dillon will start first in Friday night’s Drive for the Cure 300 Presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM) after claiming his sixth pole position of the season and the 16th of his XFINITY Series career.
Fellow Sprint Cup Series regular Kasey Kahne will start the JR Motorsports No. 88 Chevy alongside Dillon after posting the second-fastest lap at 183.150 mph. Erik Jones was third-best with series points leader Chris Buescher fourth and Kyle Busch completing the top five.
Defending race winner Brad Keselowski was among the drivers failing to advance to the final round of qualifying, posting the 13th-fastest time. Defending series champion Chase Elliott was 17th-fastest, also missing out on the final cut.
Buescher enters the 29th of 33 races this season with a 24-point lead over Elliott and a 36-point advantage over Regan Smith, last week’s winner and the 12th-fastest qualifier.
Cale Conley brought out an early stoppage in the first round of qualifying with a long spin out of Turn 2. Conley’s No. 14 Toyota made slight contact with the inside retaining wall on the backstretch before he was able to limp back to the XFINITY Series garage.