HAMPTON, Ga. — Michael McDowell will lead the Cup Series field to the green flag in Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX).
McDowell started in the front row. Last week's Daytona 500, taking his first career pole position with a speed of 178.844 mph. This is the first pole position for Front Row Motorsports since David Gilliland at Daytona in 2014.
Joey Logano will start second at 178.242 mph. Kyle Busch tied for third at 178.235 mph. Todd Gilliland (178.08 mph) and Kyle Larson (177.829 mph) round out the top five.
more: Atlanta starting lineup
Ryan Blaney (177.658 mph), Chris Buescher (177.176 mph), Austin Cindric (177.147 mph), Chase Brisco (177.125 mph) and Austin Dillon (177.102 mph) round out the top 10. Ta.
NASCAR adopted roof rail deflectors from Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece's cars.
Martin Truex Jr. was Toyota's fastest driver. He qualified 12th at 176.741 mph.
“I think last weekend (at the Daytona 500) we were definitely a long way from qualifying,” Truex said. “We had some things we had to do differently as a group and learn things that helped us out there. I think (we're) 12th right now. 27th at Daytona. I did. That's a good step.”
Erik Jones, who finished eighth in the Daytona 500, nearly crashed in qualifying and finished last. He was able to save his car and complete the lap at 164.554 mph.
Ford drivers earned the first eight spots in the starting lineup at last season's spring race in Atlanta. Logano took pole position. Seven Ford drivers qualified for the final round this season.
The green flag for Sunday's race is scheduled to wave at 3:19pm ET on FOX. Pre-race coverage begins at 2pm ET on FOX.
