A pair of NASCAR’s rising stars, Jesse Love and Connor Mosack, scored pole positions Friday and will lead their respective starting fields into action during Saturday’s doubleheader at Atlanta Motor Speedway featuring the Fr8 Racing 208 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race (1:30 p.m., FS1 and PRN Radio) and the Bennett Transportation and Logistics 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race (5 p.m., The CW and PRN Radio).
Love, who won the season-opening Xfinity Series race at Daytona in thrilling fashion last weekend and nearly won this race one year ago, set the pace in both rounds of qualifying and ultimately took the top spot with a speed of 174.724 mph in his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevy.
Love edged his teammate and local favorite Austin Hill for the top spot. Hill qualified second in his No. 21 Bennett Chevy with a speed of 174.378 mph.
“I drive fast race cars, and that obviously helps,” said Love of his third-straight Atlanta pole and sixth of his Xfinity Series career. “We have big power, and my crew chief Danny Stockman is really good at his job as well. Qualifying time my job is pretty easy, and my job is tough tomorrow night.”
Last year Love led 157 laps of the race and appeared to be on his way to victory when Ryan Sieg’s car stopped on the track with only a few laps to go. With the additional laps in an overtime finish, Love’s car eventually ran out of gas and opened the door for his teammate Hill to take the checkered flag.
“Last year was probably the most dominant car I’ve ever had in my career,” Love said. “It drove really well and did all the things that we needed it to until the end. We’ve got some unfinished business here this weekend.”
Josh Williams qualified third at 173.684 and was followed by defending series champ Justin Allgaier who clocked a 173.652 in his JR Motorsports Chevy. Sam Mayer, who drives the No. 4 machine for the new Haas Factory team, rounded out the top five in his Ford with a speed of 173.619 mph.
Mosack, a member of this season’s star-studded rookie class in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, earned his first career pole in his 13th career start in his first full-time season.
The driver of the McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevy powered to a 173.418 mph run in the second round of qualifying to claim the top spot.
Mosack had a setback at the season-opener last weekend in Daytona, where his No. 81 truck suffered an odd mechanical issue following the command to start engines. The truck was stuck in reverse and Mosack’s crew had to take the machine behind the wall and execute a quick transmission change to get him back on the track, 21 laps down. Mosack, who ultimately finished 32nd, is looking forward to making a fresh start this weekend in the Fr8 Racing 208.
“We still have some work to do tomorrow, but I feel really good about our Chevy Silverado,” Mosack said. “We have four solid trucks on our team and a solid team behind us. Hopefully we can keep them all up front tomorrow. It’s a good boost for our team (to win the pole), especially coming off a race like last weekend.”
Grant Enfinger will start second in his No. 9 Chevrolet and complete the front row with a speed of 173.007 mph. Daniel Hemric, who was quickest in the opening round of qualifying with a speed of 173.190 mph in his No. 19 Chevy, will start third overall with a 172.920 mph effort.
Rajah Caruth, Jack Wood, Jake Garcia and Tyler Ankrum qualified fourth through seventh. Cup regular Kyle Busch, the defending winner of the FR8 Racing 208, will start ninth at the controls of the No. 9 Chevy.
Tickets for tomorrow’s doubleheader and Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 NASCAR Cup Series race are available at www.AtlantaMotorSpeedway.com.
