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Dale Earnhardt Jr. takes pole for Sunday’s Cup race at Talladega

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start his final race at Talladega from the front of the pack.

TALLADEGA, Alabama — Dale Earnhardt Jr. will make his final Cup start at Talladega Superspeedway from the pole in Sunday’s Alabama 500.

Earnhardt won the pole with a lap of 190.544 mph. It is his second pole of the season and 15th of his career. He started on the pole at Daytona in July.

This is Earnhardt’s first career pole at Talladega.

“We’ve been fighting our teammate, Chase (Elliott) and his group for poles at these tracks for a long time and it’s been a lot of fun to be honest with you, how these two teams have pushed and elevated each other,” Earnhardt said. “Really, all the credit for getting a pole at a place like this goes to the team and goes to the car and the guys that work on it, the engine, the body men; we’ve got an amazing staff back at Charlotte that builds some awesome stuff. I just hold the wheel straight and try not to bounce into the apron, but get as close to it as you can and make sure you run a clean lap.

“But there ain’t much to it as a driver. This place has meant a lot to me. It’s awesome to hear those fans happy for us and hopefully we’re going to give them a lot more to cheer about before this weekend is over.”

Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott will start second after a lap of 190.412 mph. This is the sixth time the organization has swept the front row at Talladega.

Those two Chevrolet drivers will be followed by the Fords of Joey Logano (190.374 mph), Daytona 500 winner Kurt Busch (190.268) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (190.170). Stenhouse seeks his third consecutive restrictor-plate win.

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