TALLADEGA, Ala. — Ricky Stenhouse Jr. knocked off Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the final moments of Monster Energy Series qualifying to earn the pole for Sunday’s GEICO 500 (2 p.m. ET, FOX).
Earnhardt rocketed to the top of the leaderboard during the first round of qualifying, a position he held until Stenhouse knocked him off the point.
Stenhouse was then able to repeat the performance in the second round, beating out Earnhardt for his first career pole on a superspeedway.
“We just didn’t pick up as much as he (Stenhouse) did,” Earnhardt said. “Really impressive run for Stenhouse and his guys.