Two Nascar Ford teams will take the green flag at Michigan International Speedway from inside the top five. However, they are also the only Blue Oval machines that will start in the top ten
Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Ford Mustang, nabbed the fourth-best time in qualifying, getting around the two-mile oval track in 37.993 second at a top speed of 189.509 mph. Daytona 500 champion Austin Cindric will start beside him in the No. 2 Mustang, posting 38.005 seconds at 189.449 mph.
Bubba Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota TRD Camry will start from the pole, having gotten around the two-mile oval speedway in 37.755 at a top speed of 190.703 mph. Another Toyota will start second: the No. 20 of Christopher Bell, who topped out at 189.898 mph for a time of 37.915. Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Camry will start third with a time of 37.921 seconds.
No drivers were penalized during pre-qualifying inspection, so no penalties were handed out this weekend. Additionally, the No. 45 Camry will be driven by Ty Gibbs for the third weekend in a row, as its regular driver – Kurt Busch – was not cleared to race after suffering a concussion a few weeks back.
The pressure is on for the Nascar Ford teams to perform. Recently, Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance Motorsports, expressed displeasure about The Blue Oval’s four wins at the Cup Series level this season, compared to chief rival Chevrolet’s 13 wins so far.
“Four wins is not enough. It’s not acceptable,” Rushbrook said. “We need to get more wins,” he added.” Ford is in a good position to do so, given that Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Mustang won at Michigan last year.
The green flag will drop at Michigan at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 7th.
| Pos | Car Number | Driver | Team | Time | Speed | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | McDonald's Toyota | 37.755 | 190.703 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 2 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Sirius XM Toyota | 37.915 | 189.898 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 3 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Interstate Batteries Toyota | 37.921 | 189.868 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 4 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 37.993 | 189.509 | Ford Mustang |
| 5 | 2 | Austin Cindric # | Discount Tire Ford | 38.005 | 189.449 | Ford Mustang |
| 6 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Guaranteed Rate Chevrolet | 38.09 | 189.026 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 7 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota | 38.151 | 188.724 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 8 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 38.175 | 188.605 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 9 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Freight Toyota | 38.209 | 188.437 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 10 | 43 | Erik Jones | FOCUSfactor Chevrolet | 38.366 | 187.666 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 11 | 45 | Ty Gibbs(i) | Monster Energy Toyota | 38.218 | 188.393 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 12 | 16 | Noah Gragson(i) | Chevy Accessories Chevrolet | 38.248 | 188.245 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 13 | 9 | Chase Elliott | UniFirst Chevrolet | 38.27 | 188.137 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 14 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Martin Transportation Systems Ford | 38.287 | 188.053 | Ford Mustang |
| 15 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 38.306 | 187.96 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 16 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Busch Light Apple #BuschelOfBusch Ford | 38.333 | 187.828 | Ford Mustang |
| 17 | 41 | Cole Custer | HaasTooling.com Ford | 38.38 | 187.598 | Ford Mustang |
| 18 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 38.385 | 187.573 | Ford Mustang |
| 19 | 17 | Chris Buescher | LeBron James Family Foundation Ford | 38.448 | 187.266 | Ford Mustang |
| 20 | 24 | William Byron | Liberty University Chevrolet | 38.463 | 187.193 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 21 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 38.482 | 187.1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 22 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Advent Health Chevrolet | 38.502 | 187.003 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 23 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford | 38.526 | 186.887 | Ford Mustang |
| 24 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Menards/Cardell Caninetry Ford | 38.551 | 186.766 | Ford Mustang |
| 25 | 42 | Ty Dillon | Ferris Chevrolet | 38.617 | 186.446 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 26 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Dow MobilityScience Chevrolet | 38.639 | 186.34 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 27 | 21 | Harrison Burton # | Ford 20 Year Sr Master Techs Ford | 38.641 | 186.331 | Ford Mustang |
| 28 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger Health/SweetLeaf Chevrolet | 38.697 | 186.061 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 29 | 15 | JJ Yeley(i) | RWR Ford | 38.803 | 185.553 | Ford Mustang |
| 30 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 38.814 | 185.5 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 31 | 33 | Austin Hill(i) | Bennett Transportation Chevrolet | 38.875 | 185.209 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 32 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Schluter Systems Chevrolet | 38.94 | 184.9 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 33 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Castrol Ford | 38.997 | 184.63 | Ford Mustang |
| 34 | 51 | Cody Ware | Nurtec ODT Ford | 39.021 | 184.516 | Ford Mustang |
| 35 | 77 | Josh Bilicki(i) | Michigan State/Zeigler Auto Chevrolet | 39.308 | 183.169 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 36 | 78 | BJ McLeod(i) | Blaster Ford | 39.308 | 183.169 | Ford Mustang |
| 37 | 38 | Todd Gilliland # | First Phase Ford | 39.317 | 183.127 | Ford Mustang |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* i Part-time driver
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