NASCAR Cup qualifying: See the starting grid for the Enjoy Illinois 300 at WWTR on Sunday.
It's been incredibly difficult to pass in the NASCAR Cup Series this season, especially at low-banked, shorter tracks.
That put an even bigger onus on qualifying this weekend at Gateway, aka World Wide Technology Raceway.
Michael McDowell did his part on Saturday morning, claiming the pole position for Sunday's race. He set a track record with a time of 32.318 seconds in the first round and will start alongside Austin Cindric on the front row. Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick rounded out the top five.
Bell claimed the win last week in a rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, giving him a pair of wins on the season. Heading into Saturday, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson currently sit atop the NASCAR odds board at +600.
Sunday's Cup Series race at Gateway is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. start and will air on FS1.
NASCAR SCHEDULE: NASCAR qualifying, races on TV this weekend at Gateway and Portland!
NASCAR qualifying results
Michael McDowell, No. 34 Ford
Austin Cindric, No. 2 Ford
Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Ford
Christopher Bell, No. 20 Toyota
Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Toyota
Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota
Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Ford
Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Toyota
Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Toyota
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Chevrolet
William Byron, No. 24 Chevrolet
Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford
Kyle Larson, No. 5 Chevrolet
Alex Bowman, No. 48 Chevrolet
Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Chevrolet
Ross Chastain, No. 1 Chevrolet
Chase Elliott, No. 9 Chevrolet
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet
Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Toyota
Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Chevrolet
Justin Haley, No. 51 Ford
Erik Jones, No. 43 Toyota
Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Ford
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Chevrolet
Derek Kraus, No. 16 Chevrolet
Chris Buescher, No. 17 Ford
Noah Gragson, No. 10 Ford
Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Chevrolet
Josh Berry, No. 4 Ford
Harrison Burton, No. 21 Ford
Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Chevrolet
Ryan Preece, No. 41 Ford
John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Toyota
Cody Ware, No. 15 Ford
Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Ford
Zane Smith, No. 71 Chevrolet
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR qualifying today: Starting lineup for Cup Series at Gateway