ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- Connor Zilisch has posted the fastest lap during Xfinity Series qualifying at Rockingham Speedway.
The JR Motorsports driver won the pole with a lap of 22.630 seconds. He beat Alpha Prime Racing's Parker Retzlaff (22.631) by 0.001 seconds. This is Zilisch's fourth career pole win and his third of the season.
He started from the pole at Circuit of the Americas in March and won the race. He also started from the pole at Martinsville Speedway in late March before finishing 28th.
MORE: Full Rockingham Speedway lineup
Zilisch will not be able to maintain his spot at the front of the pack, however. He will have to drop to the rear of the field for the start of the Saturday evening race (4 p.m. ET on CW) due to a flat tire.
Retzlaff was followed by Nick Sanchez (22.631), Kasey Kahne (22.720), William Sawalich (22.733), Brandon Jones (22.753), Jesse Love (22.769), Justin Allgaier (22.806), Christian Eckes (22.825), and Austin Hill (22.842).
Like Zilisch, Love also experienced tire issues on Saturday afternoon. His team had to change the right rear tire on the No. 2 Chevrolet before he made his qualifying lap. Love's car continued smoking as he made his way around the .94-mile track.
Jones, Allgaier, and Smith are three of the drivers competing for the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus. Carson Kvapil, the fourth driver in contention for the money, will start further back in the field. He qualified 25th with a lap of 23.151 seconds.
Forty cars were on the entry list for Saturday evening's race. Katherine Legge of Jordan Anderson Racing and Dawson Cram of Mike Harmon Racing were the two drivers who failed to qualify.
However, Legge secured her spot in the race hours before the green flag. She swapped spots with JJ Yeley, who put the No. 53 Joey Gase Chevrolet into the race.
The Xfinity Series drivers have set the lineup, so they will now prepare for a Saturday evening event at the historic Rockingham Speedway. Driver introductions will take place at 3:25 p.m. ET.
Pre-race coverage will begin with "NASCAR Countdown Live" on the CW Network at 3 p.m. ET. Race coverage will begin at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network. The green flag will wave to start the race at 4:05 p.m. ET.