Truex Lands Pole for Xfinity 500 at Martinsville; Elliott (2nd) Top Playoff Contender

Martin Truex Jr. snagged the pole position at Martinsville Speedway, the next-to-last race of his full-time NASCAR Cup Series career. The driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE will lead the field to green in the Xfinity 500 after turning a lap time of 16.686 seconds (96.190 mph) in the final round of the qualifying session.

For Truex, this pole-winning run marks the 24th of his illustrious NASCAR Cup Series career. The driver, who will drop down to a part-time career and will only run select races in 2025 knows this very well could be his final NASCAR Cup Series pole.

"Yeah, you definitely do," Truex said when asked if he thinks of every achievement in his final season may be the final time. "I mean it's here whether you like it or not or whatever, but you know, it's exciting today. It's always fun anytime you win anything in the [NASCAR Cup] series, it's exciting. Practice was awesome, and fun. And then to be able to back it up qualifying and felt good [about it]."

RELATED: NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Starting Lineup

Truex is now ready to chase a grandfather clock after firing off to a solid start to the race weekend.

A pair of Hendrick Motorsports Playoff contenders Chase Elliott, and William Byron will lineup from the second and third spots in Sunday's event.

In all, only three Playoff drivers landed top-10 qualifying spots in Saturday's qualifying session at the 0.526-mile short track in Virginia.

Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs, Harrison Burton, Alex Bowman, Ryan Preece, Kyle Larson, and Austin Dillon will round out the top-10 starters for Sunday's race.

Denny Hamlin will start the race from the final starting position (37th) after suffering a crash in Friday's NASCAR Cup Series practice session. Hamlin's throttle hung wide open after a large chunk of tire rubber got lodged in the throttle body of his No. 11 car. Hamlin was able to spin the car, which allowed him to back into the wall, rather than going head-on into the wall.

While Hamlin will start at the rear, and have the worst pit selection of anyone in the race, his team was able to determine that the primary car could be repaired for Sunday's Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Here is a full breakdown of where the eight NASCAR Cup Series Playoff contenders will start in the 37-car field of Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Martinsville:

Chase Elliott, 2nd
William Byron, 3rd
Kyle Larson, 9th
Joey Logano (Locked in), 12th
Ryan Blaney, 14th
Christopher Bell, 16th
Tyler Reddick (Locked in), 31st

Photo Credit: Aaron Giffin | Racing America