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AJ Allmendinger will start on the pole for Saturday's Xfinity race at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), which he won last year. Allmendinger won the pole with a lap of 92.173 mph on the 20-turn, 3.41-mile road racetrack on Friday.
Allmendinger, driving the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing, will compete in Saturday's Pit Boss Grills 250 at COTA after setting the fastest time in the last round of qualifying on Friday.
The 41-year-old racer's 133.184-second lap put him a half-second ahead of Phoenix winner and NASCAR Xfinity Series rookie Sammy Smith. This is his seventh career pole in the second-tier series.
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Pole sitter Allmendinger talked about what would be key for him to achieve back-to-back wins in COTA.
"Yeah, it's easy to make a mistake, you know without the stages. I think the strategy in a way kinda closes up a bit but there are still strategy out there about when you pit. It's about pitting early, go going out there and getting a couple of good laps on tires and maybe stretchin' out but you can wear em' out really quick..."
Ty Gibbs, making his first Xfinity Series appearance of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing, will start third. Sheldon Creed and Parker Kligerman will round out the top five starts.
After progressing to the final round of Friday's group qualifying session, John Hunter Nemechek, Riley Herbst, Justin Allgaier, William Byron, and Cole Custer completed the top-10.
William Byron, making his first start of the season for Hendrick Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, was on track to take the lead until he was penalized for cutting the course.
There were 42 drivers listed for Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series race at COTA, but four failed to qualify. These were: Parker Chase, Garrett Smithley, Baltazar Leguizamon, and Cameron Lawrence.
COTA Xfinity starting lineup as AJ Allmendinger takes pole in 2023
In Saturday's Xfinity race at the Circuit of the Americas, AJ Allmendinger, who took first place here last year, will start from pole position. Sammy Smith will be sitting next to him (91.827 mph).
Third place will be taken by Ty Gibbs (91.665). Fourth-place qualifier Sheldon Creed scored a 91.652. The fifth-place starter is Parker Kligerman (91.195).
Cup driver William Byron will start ninth. By cutting the esses, Byron's time was stripped away. Cole Custer, who will start 10th, failed to complete a lap in the final round of qualifying. Aric Almirola (91.269) qualified 13th. Carson Hocevar (90.669) of the Truck Series will start 17th. Alex Labbe (90.476) will start on the 23rd.
He's standing in for Josh Williams, who is serving a one-race suspension for parking his car near the start/finish line of last weekend's race in Atlanta.
