BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Alex Bowman will lead the Cup Series field to the green flag on Sunday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Bowman won the pole with a lap of 14.912 seconds. This is his seventh career pole and his second of the season. He became the second driver this season to win the pole more than once, joining teammate William Byron.
MORE: Bowman wins pole, full Bristol lineup
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. qualified second with a lap of 14.925 seconds after posting the fastest lap time during Saturday's practice session. This was his first time this season qualifying better than 22nd.
Stenhouse was followed by Kyle Larson (14.931), Denny Hamlin (14.931), and Ryan Blaney (14.955). The rest of the top 10 featured Ty Gibbs (14.964), Christopher Bell (14.964), AJ Allmendinger (15.002), Carson Hocevar (15.019), and Justin Haley (15.030).
Jesse Love, who makes his Cup Series debut this weekend, qualified 19th with a lap of 15.030 seconds.
Kyle Busch posted a 15.097-second lap to start his qualifying attempt, which was 12th-fastest at the time. He did not complete his second lap. He spun in Turn 4 and slid toward the inside SAFER barrier.
Busch kept the No. 8 Chevrolet out of the wall, but he flat-spotted his tires and destroyed a set that he could have used during the race. He ultimately qualified 15th.
Busch was not the only multi-time champion who struggled. Joey Logano went out immediately after Busch. He clipped the apron in Turn 2, which sent his No. 22 Ford sliding. The right rear slapped the wall and straightened the car out.
Logano continued with qualifying and posted a 16.275-second lap. This was the 38th-fastest lap in the field.
"I was just having to push it hard trying to make a fast lap," Logano said. "It turned pretty good, and I got a little bit down on that apron there, and it kind of shoved me up.
"I kind of got free, and then I got into the looser stuff and hit the wall. The last few times we've qualified here in the Next Gen car, it's been kind of sketchy, to say the least."
William Byron went out second-to-last in the qualifying order. He had the goal of completing a lap in 14.80 seconds. He fell short as he chattered his tires on his opening lap and slid toward the wall. Byron kept going and posted the 26th-fastest time at 15.263 seconds.