Cole Custer will starts first in the Xfinity Series’ regular-season finale Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Custer qualified first for the DC Solar 300 with a speed of 179.295 mph. It is his series-leading fifth pole of the year.
The Stewart-Haas Racing driver is followed by Austin Cindric (177.866 mph), Elliott Sadler (177.825), Christopher Bell (177.708) and Ross Chastain (177.317).
With Custer and Cindric both 20, they make up the youngest front row for a Las Vegas Xfinity race.
Custer earned the pole after he took the green flag with roughly 40 seconds left in the first round after narrowly making it through inspection
“That was the craziest qualifying session I’ve ever been a part of,” Custer told NBCSN.
Five drivers - Daniel Hemric, Ryan Preece, Brandon Jones, Ryan Truex and Matt Tifft - did not make a qualifying attempt after they failed to get through inspection in time. They will start from the rear.
Jones’ car failed inspection three times. His car chief, Joey Elliott, was ejected from the event.
Tifft’s car failed four times. His car chief, Cam Strader, was ejected. Tifft will have to serve a pass-through penalty to star the race. It also will result in a 10-point penalty in driver and owner points.
Both drivers will serve a 30-minute practice hold next week at Richmond.
Garrett Smithley will go to a backup car after he suffered a hard wreck in Turn 4 with about five minutes left in the first round. He was able to exit the car.
Shane Lee qualified a career-best sixth. Ryan Sieg qualified a season-best 10th.