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Kyle Benjamin wins first Xfinity pole for Pocono Green 250

NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150

GREENVILLE, SC - APRIL 08: Kyle Benjamin, driver of the #40 MDM Motorsports Toyota, wins the pole with the fastest qualifying lap during the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 at Greenville Pickens Speedway on April 8, 2017 in Greenville, South Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

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Kyle Benjamin will start from the pole in the Xfinity Series’ Pocono Green 250 at Pocono Raceway.

Benjamin, driving the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, earned his first Xfinity pole with a speed of 172.844 mph.

Benjamin, 19, is starting in just his second Xfinity race. He started second in his first race in April at Richmond International Raceway.

Making up the top five is Daniel Hemric (172.305), Cole Custer (172.295), Justin Allgaier (172.219) and William Byron (171.775).

Casey Mears’ qualifying run in the first round was disallowed by NASCAR for impeding the progress of Matt Tifft during his qualifying run. Mears and the No. 98 Ford will start 40th. Tifft and the No. 19 Toyota will start 31st.

“Just a huge mistake on my part, I haven’t done single-car qualifying here in a long time,” Mears told Fox Sports 1. “Typically what you need to do is go down and run along the access road. I was in the middle of Turn 2 and I looked in my mirror and I went ‘I didn’t get down.’ I was the radio talking to (Crew Chief) Jon (Hanson) telling him what the car was doing. Shoot, I can’t remember the last time I did that. I hate it for the 19 guys. I was hoping they were on there up to speed lap, but it was their money lap.”

The first round of qualifying was briefly stopped due to a fox being near the track surface.

Click here for the full qualifying report.