“That was probably the best lap I’ve ever run in qualifying in my life.”
Defending NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champion Jesse Love will lead the field to green in Saturday’s Timberland Pro 200 at Phoenix Raceway, after a blazing lap in Saturday’s single-vehicle qualifying session.
“It’s super hard to hit the balance here, so hats off to my team for making the right adjustments after lacking some short-run speed in practice,” Love told The CW. “That’s what it’s all about, you’re thinking while the car in front of you goes out what you want to execute and what things you can mess up and hoping your car is going to drive like, and everything lined up to a tee.”
Love, piloting the No. 2 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing, laid down an incredible lap of 27.336 seconds (131.694mph) to win the pole position by more than two tenths of a second over fellow Chase driver Brandon Jones.
William Sawalich was the highest-qualifying non-Chase driver in the field, clocking in third quickest, just four thousandths of a second slower than his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate. Sheldon Creed will start Saturday night’s event from fourth, with Taylor Gray rounding out the top-five.
Rajah Caruth will start from the sixth position, followed by Nick Sanchez, who put together an incredible qualifying run to have the Peterson Racing No. 87 starting in the seventh position, followed by Brent Crews, Sammy Smith, and Austin Hill in eighth, ninth, and tenth.
Other drivers in the Chase starting outside the top-10 include Corey Day in 11th, Justin Allgaier in 13th, Carson Kvapil in 16th, Parker Retzlaff in 18th, and Sam Mayer in 35th.
On Saturday, in practice, Phoenix Raceway was a catalyst for a lot of issues – with three engine failures happening in the 50-minute session, and a fourth problem that will cause a team to make an engine change.
Sam Mayer (No. 41), Harrison Burton (No. 24), Brad Perez (No. 42), and Joey Gase (No. 55) didn’t post a qualifying time on Saturday, and thus, will start 35th through 38th.
The Timberland Pro 200 at Phoenix Raceway will take place on Saturday, October 17 at 7:30 PM ET on The CW.
