Starting lineup for Xfinity race at Daytona | Love on the pole, Deegan, Muniz in the field
DAYTONA BEACH — Austin Hill seemed poised to claim yet another win in the Xfinity Series at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday.
Yet, his rookie teammate had other plans.
No, it wasn't a race, but Jesse Love clicked off a lap of 49.702, besting Hill by three thousandths of a second to take the pole for Saturday evening's United Rentals 300. It gave Richard Childress Racing a front-row sweep.
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The qualifying session was moved two hours from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. due to early rain and was also reduced from two rounds to one. The start time of the race was also moved up a half hour from 5 to 4:30 with weather threatening the area through Sunday night, also putting the Daytona 500 in jeopardy.
Rounding out the top five were AJ Allmendinger, Parker Kligerman and Shane van Gisbergen, the last of whom, will run his first full-time season in NASCAR this year, driving for Kaulig Racing in the Xfinity Series. The three-time Supercars champ and winner of the inaugural Chicago Street Race last year, van Gisbergen also participated in Friday night's ARCA Menards Series race but was caught up in an early crash.
Other notable driver to qualify on Saturday included Daniel Suarez (18th), Hailie Deegan (28th) and Frankie Muniz (37th).
After qualifying times and provisional positions were factored in, Stanton Barrett, Kyle Sieg, CJ McLaughlin, David Starr, Caesar Bacarella and Joey Gase were left out of the final lineup. Starr originally made the field but failed post-qualifying inspection, allowing Dawson Cram to get in.
A total of 44 cars took part in qualifying with 38 spots up for grabs.
Daytona Xfinity Series lineup for Saturday
Jesse Love, No. 2 Chevrolet
Austin Hill, No. 21 Chevrolet
AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Chevrolet
Parker Kligerman, No. 48 Chevrolet
Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Chevrolet
Justin Allgaier, No. 7 Chevrolet
Jeremy Clements, No. 51 Chevrolet
John Hunter Nemechek, No. 20 Toyota
Parker Retzlaff, No. 31 Chevrolet
Anthony Alfredo, No. 5 Chevrolet
Riley Herbst, No. 98 Ford
Sammy Smith, No. 8 Chevrolet
Patrick Emerling, No. 07 Chevrolet
Sheldon Creed, No. 18 Toyota
Sam Mayer, No. 1 Chevrolet
Jeb Burton, No. 27 Chevrolet
Cole Custer, No. 00 Ford
Daniel Suarez, No. 14 Chevrolet
Chandler Smith, No. 81 Toyota
Ryan Truex, No. 19 Toyota
Josh Williams, No. 11 Chevrolet
Brandon Jones, No. 9 Chevrolet
Garrett Smithley, No. 6 Chevrolet
Leland Honeyman, No. 42 Chevrolet
Kyle Weatherman, No. 91 Chevrolet
Daniel Dye, No. 10 Chevrolet
Josh Bilicki, No. 92 Chevrolet
Hailie Deegan, No. 15 Ford
David Starr, No. 66 Chevrolet
Jordan Anderson, No. 32 Chevrolet
Natalie Decker, No. 36 Chevrolet
Ryan Sieg, No. 39 Ford
Sage Karam, No. 26 Toyota
Brennan Poole, No. 44 Chevrolet
Dawson Cram, No. 4 Chevrolet
Ryan Ellis, No. 43 Chevrolet
Frankie Muniz, No. 35 Ford
B.J. McLeod, No. 78 Chevrolet
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona 500 weekend: Xfinity Series qualifying results, starting grid