Suarez edges title combatants for Xfinity Series pole

The first round of qualifying was not without its drama. The No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was stuck in tech for the entirety of Round 1, never making a lap. The car, piloted by Matt Tifft this weekend, is trying to secure the NXS owner's title for JGR. He will start 39th.

"It's on me, it's my fault," said crew chief Chris Gayle.

Kyle Larson put up the quickest time during the twenty-minute session, circling the track in 32.093 seconds (168.261mph).

Matt DiBenedetto was the final driver to advance into the second round, edging Dakoda Armstrong by 0.004. Ryan Preece, Jeremy Clements and Garrett Smithley also just missed out on advancing.

There are five drivers who failed to qualify for the race: David Starr (#93), Morgan Shepherd (#89), Mike Harmon (#74), Dexter Stacey (#70), Ryan Ellis (#77).

In the final 60 seconds of Round 2, Alex Bowman jumped up above the cut-line, pushing Ryan Reed out. Blake Koch was the final driver to transfer into the pole round, 0.003 to the good.

Daniel Suarez was quickest this time around with a 31.941-second lap (169.062mph). All four championship contenders advanced (Suarez, Erik Jones, Elliott Sadler, Justin Allgaier). Others that made it through: Larson, Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney, Darrell Wallace Jr., Bowman, Ty Dillon, Brandon Jones, and Koch.

In the final five minutes of Round 3 qualifying, the four title combatants made their presence known. As the clock winded down, Sadler led the way, but there was one more bullet to dodge.

Suarez waited until the last possible moment to leave pit road and he went straight to P1 on his flying lap with a 31.779-second lap (169.924mph). Sadler will start second, Jones third, Blaney fourth, and the elder Dillon fifth. Allgaier was the slowest of the Championship 4, but he will still start up in sixth.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Time	Gap	Mph
1	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	31.779		169.924
2	1	Elliott Sadler	Chevrolet	31.812	0.033	169.747
3	20	Erik Jones	Toyota	31.850	0.071	169.545
4	22	Ryan Blaney	Ford	32.031	0.252	168.587
5	2	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	32.039	0.260	168.545
6	7	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	32.119	0.340	168.120
7	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	32.127	0.348	168.083
8	88	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	32.270	0.491	167.338
9	6	Darrell Wallace Jr.	Ford	32.284	0.505	167.266
10	33	Brandon Jones	Chevrolet	32.330	0.551	167.028