NASCAR at Talladega qualifying results, starting lineup: Michael McDowell wins pole; Kyle Larson penalized

McDowell breaks Larson's streak of consecutive poles as the No. 5 is forbidden from making a lap

LINCOLN, Ala. -- Michael McDowell won the pole for the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in qualifying on Saturday morning, posting a lap of 52.609 (182.022 MPH) in the final round to earn his second pole of the 2024 season and the second of his Cup Series career. This is also McDowell's third front row start overall after he qualified on the outside pole for the Daytona 500 and then won his first Cup pole the next week at Atlanta.

The big story in qualifying was not necessarily who was out on track to make a lap, but who wasn't. After catching the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team making an unapproved adjustment to the roof rail of their car while pushing it out to pit road, NASCAR forbid Kyle Larson and his team from making a qualifying attempt. Larson will start last on Sunday, breaking his streak of three consecutive poles, and NASCAR stated that any further penalties will be announced later this week.

A great lap for @AustinCindric but he's going to have to settle for second

Michael McDowell wins the pole at Talladega #GEICO500 pic.twitter.com/u85OuWrhBm

— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) April 20, 2024

McDowell was the tip of the spear for Ford, which swept the front row for the third time in three speedway races to start the 2024 season. Austin Cindric put his Team Penske Ford on the outside pole, earning his best starting spot for a Cup race since he qualified second at the Indianapolis road course in 2022. Five Fords in total qualified inside the top 10, including McDowell's Front Row Motorsports teammate Todd Gilliland, who earned his best career starting spot in third.

Ryan Blaney, who won at Talladega last fall and has three Talladega wins overall, qualified 21st with a different crew chief at the head of his No. 12 team. Tony Palmer is filling in this week for Jonathan Hassler, who did not make the trip to Talladega as he attends to the birth of his child.

Cody Ware, making his season debut and his first NASCAR start since being suspended for much of the 2023 season due to legal issues, qualified 34th.

GEICO 500 starting lineup

1. #34 - Michael McDowell
2. #2 - Austin Cindric
3. #38 - Todd Gilliland
4. #8 - Kyle Busch
5. #3 - Austin Dillon
6. #19 - Martin Truex Jr.
7. #22 - Joey Logano
8. #17 - Chris Buescher
9. #9 - Chase Elliott
10. #20 - Christopher Bell
11. #41 - Ryan Preece
12. #48 - Alex Bowman
13. #24 - William Byron
14. #23 - Bubba Wallace
15. #54 - Ty Gibbs
16. #21 - Harrison Burton
17. #16 - Shane van Gisbergen
18. #45 - Tyler Reddick
19. #31 - Daniel Hemric
20. #42 - John Hunter Nemechek
21. #12 - Ryan Blaney
22. #6 - Brad Keselowski
23. #11 - Denny Hamlin
24. #62 - Anthony Alfredo
25. #99 - Daniel Suarez
26. #14 - Chase Briscoe
27. #51 - Justin Haley
28. #43 - Erik Jones
29. #4 - Josh Berry (R)
30. #71 - Zane Smith (R)
31. #7 - Corey LaJoie
32. #1 - Ross Chastain
33. #47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
34. #15 - Cody Ware
35. #77 - Carson Hocevar (R)
36. #10 - Noah Gragson
37. #78 - B.J. McLeod
38. #5 - Kyle Larson