Gray Is Best In Rookie-Heavy Charlotte NXS Qualifying

Taylor Gray with the Kennametal Pole Award at Charlotte Motor Speedway. (Scotte Sprinkle/Race Face Digital photo)

CONCORD, N.C. – Joe Gibbs Racing’s Taylor Gray led an all-rookie front row in time trials for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series BetMGM 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Driving a patriotic No. 54 Toyota GR Supra, Gray turned a lap of 30.598 seconds (176.482 mph) around the 1.5-mile quad-oval to earn his second Kennametal Pole Award in his 26th career start.

Both of Gray’s Xfinity Series poles have come on 1.5-mile ovals. His earlier time topping qualifying this season was at Florida’s Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“Starting [on the] front row and leading the field to green always makes your day easier, for sure,” Gray noted. “I can’t thank everyone from Joe Gibbs Racing enough. They brought me a really fast Operation 300 GR Supra. I was a tad concerned in practice, but we turned it around in qualifying, at least for one solid lap.

“We’ll see what we can do in a few hours. Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) builds great cars; it makes my job easy.”

Joining Gray on the front row is JR Motorsports’ Connor Zilisch, making his return to the Xfinity Series after a one-race hiatus while he recovered from a lower-back injury suffered at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in late April.

Zilisch posted a best time of 30.627 seconds (176.315 mph) as the final car to qualify, just missing out on the pole in his own right.

Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill rolls from third alongside Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, the hometown NASCAR Cup Series star and two-time Daytona 500 winner making his second Xfinity Series appearance this year.

Gray’s JGR teammate Brandon Jones starts fifth, with another JGR rookie in William Sawalich lining up sixth. Ryan Sieg, Sheldon Creed, Chase Briscoe, and defending series champion Justin Allgaier filled out the top 10.

Notables starting deeper in the field include Sam Mayer (11th), Carson Kvapil (12th), Christian Eckes (15th), Anthony Alfredo (17th), Austin Dillon (20th), Harrison Burton (25th), and Indy car and sports car ace Katherine Legge (32nd).

With 40 entries for 38 starting spots, Carson Ware and Dawson Cram were the two drivers who failed to qualify.

Broadcast coverage of the BetMGM 300 is slated for 4:30 p.m. ET, live on The CW, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.