Michael McDowell bested teammate Todd Gilliland with a 49.136-second lap around the 2.5-mile superspeedway to claim the pole position. Facing a must-win situation, both drivers led a legion of Fords at the front of the field, occupying the first three rows of the grid.

It’s McDowell’s fourth pole of the season and third on a slipstream track. He hasn’t had a single pole in the last 16 years of his Cup career, but he now benefits from FRM’s Tier 1 status within the Ford group and a technical alliance with Team Penske.

“I’m so proud of everyone at Front Row Motorsports,” said McDowell. “To have both cars on the front row is just incredible. It’s a testament to how hard everyone is working. We know we still have two chances here, but this is a big weekend for us. Having both cars up front is really important. Hopefully we can stay up front, control the race and give ourselves a real chance to get into these playoffs.”

Michael McDowell, Front Row Motorsports, Love’s Travel stops Ford Mustang

Photo by: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Images

Gilliland was 0.098 seconds away from his first pole position. His previous best start was third place at Talladega. “I really wanted it,” he told NBC. “We definitely have a car that is fast enough to win this race tomorrow.”

Penske’s Joey Logano starts third, followed by the Stewart-Haas trio of Ryan Preece, Josh Berry and Chase Briscoe. William Byron was the best-qualified Chevrolet driver in seventh place, breaking up the party in the blue oval. Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott completed the rest of the top ten.

Looking at the drivers who are in the middle of the fight for playoff points, Chris Buescher was the best qualifier with 13th place.