Brad Keselowski, A.J. Allmendinger, John Hunter Nemechek on poles for Throwback Weekend

The beloved NASCAR throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway moves to the spring, and Brad Keselowski, A.J. Allmendinger, and John Hunter Nemechek will lead their respective fields to kick it off. Nemechek starts on the pole for Friday’s Camping World Truck Series LiftKits4Less 200, followed by Allmendinger on Saturday for the Xfinity Series‘ Steakhouse Elite 200. Keselowski will do so for the Cup Series in Sunday’s Goodyear 400.

Cup: Keselowski leads Ford front row

For the second straight race, Keselowski will start on the pole. The Talladega winner led 72 laps and finished third at Kansas. It will be his third start from first in 2021 and third at Darlington; he won the 2018 Southern 500. Despite the festivities, Keselowski’s #2 Ford will have Freightliner sponsorship with no throwback.

Fellow Ford driver Kevin Harvick, on the other hand, has a Mobil 1 throwback planned and will start second. He is a three-time winner at Darlington, and won two of the track’s three Cup races in 2020. However, he has not started in the top five since 2017.

Ryan Preece, who starts twenty-ninth, is the lone car in the field without a charter. Austin Cindric and Matt Mills will not return after racing at Kansas.

Rick Ware Racing is responsible for two driver changes from Kansas as James Davison takes over the #15 from Joey Gase and J.J. Yeley replaces Garrett Smithley in the #53.

Start	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford
2	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
3	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
4	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
5	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
6	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
7	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
8	21	Matt DiBenedetto	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford
9	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet
10	8	Tyler Reddick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet
11	17	Chris Buescher	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford
12	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford
13	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford
14	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
15	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet
16	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford
17	1	Kurt Busch	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet
18	42	Ross Chastain	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet
19	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
20	6	Ryan Newman	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford
21	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
22	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
23	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota
24	41	Cole Custer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
25	38	Anthony Alfredo	Front Row Motorsports	Ford
26	43	Erik Jones	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet
27	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
28	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet
29	37	Ryan Preece	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet
30	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet
31	77	Justin Haley*	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet
32	78	B.J. McLeod*	Live Fast Motorsports	Ford
33	51	Cody Ware*	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet
34	53	J.J. Yeley*	Rick Ware Racing	Ford
35	00	Quin Houff	StarCom Racing	Chevrolet
36	15	James Davison	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet
37	52	Josh Bilicki	Rick Ware Racing	Ford

Xfinity: Allmendinger lone throwback pole-sitter

For the first time in 2021, Allmendinger will start on the pole after finishing third at Talladega two weeks prior. It is his first front-row starting position since winning the pole at Road America in 2019. Unlike his peers, Allmendinger will actually join the throwback fun as his car will sport a livery modelled after his car from his lone Cup win at Watkins Glen in 2014.

Points leader Cindric will start second. It is his seventh front-row spot in nine races.

Brandon Gdovic is in Sam Hunt Racing‘s #26 that Colin Garrett drove at Talladega, while Ty Gibbs takes over the #54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota from Ty Dillon. Ryan Ellis replaces Mason Massey in B.J. McLeod Motorsports‘ #99, Tanner Berryhill is in Our Motorsports‘ #23 that Natalie Decker drove, B.J. McLeod is in the #90 for DGM Racing in Caesar Bacarella‘s place, and Matt Jaskol inherits the #13 of MBM Motorsports from Jason White.

Ronnie Bassett Jr., Jordan Anderson, and Andy Lally continue to be the DNQs. Anderson, along with four other drivers, switched to Truck points earlier in the week.

Start	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	16	A.J. Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet
2	22	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Ford
3	10	Jeb Burton	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet
4	11	Justin Haley	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet
5	9	Noah Gragson	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet
6	98	Riley Herbst	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford
7	18	Daniel Hemric	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
8	20	Harrison Burton	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
9	68	Brandon Brown	Brandonbilt Motorsports	Chevrolet
10	2	Myatt Snider	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet
11	39	Ryan Sieg	RSS Racing	Ford
12	51	Jeremy Clements	Jeremy Clements Racing	Chevrolet
13	02	Brett Moffitt	Our Motorsports	Chevrolet
14	44	Tommy Joe Martins	Martins Motorsports	Chevrolet
15	66	Timmy Hill*	MBM Motorsports	Ford
16	7	Justin Allgaier	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet
17	61	David Starr	MBM Motorsports	Toyota
18	48	Jade Buford	Big Machine Racing	Chevrolet
19	4	Landon Cassill	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet
20	1	Michael Annett	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet
21	92	Josh Williams	DGM Racing	Chevrolet
22	19	Brandon Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
23	36	Alex Labbé	DGM Racing	Chevrolet
24	8	Josh Berry	JR Motorsports	Chevrolet
25	15	Colby Howard	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet
26	47	Kyle Weatherman	Mike Harmon Racing	Chevrolet
27	26	Brandon Gdovic	Sam Hunt Racing	Toyota
28	0	Jeffrey Earnhardt	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet
29	54	Ty Gibbs	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota
30	07	Joe Graf Jr.	SS-Green Light Racing	Chevrolet
31	78	Jesse Little	B.J. McLeod Motorsports	Chevrolet
32	5	Matt Mills	B.J. McLeod Motorsports	Chevrolet
33	99	Ryan Ellis	B.J. McLeod Motorsports	Toyota
34	6	Ryan Vargas	JD Motorsports	Chevrolet
35	17	J.J. Yeley	SS-Green Light Racing	Chevrolet
36	23	Tanner Berryhill	Our Motorsports	Chevrolet
37	52	Gray Gaulding	Jimmy Means Racing	Chevrolet
38	90	B.J. McLeod*	DGM Racing	Chevrolet
39	74	Bayley Currey*	Mike Harmon Racing	Chevrolet
40	13	Matt Jaskol	MBM Motorsports	Toyota

Trucks: Nemechek at 50% pole rate in 2021

With how Nemechek has dominated the Truck Series since his return earlier this year, it comes with little surprise that the points leader will start on the pole. The two-time race winner in 2021 has received a first-place starting position in four of eight races. It will be his first Truck start at Darlington, which rejoined the series’ schedule last year as a temporary date before becoming a permanent event, but he has a ninth-place finish in his maiden Cup start there in 2020.

Fellow Toyota driver Austin Hill starts second.

Driver changes from Kansas are as follows: Corey Heim makes his series début as Nemechek’s team-mate in the #51 for Kyle Busch Motorsports that the eponymous owner/driver ran, Grant Enfinger moves back from CR7 Motorsports‘ #9 to ThorSport Racing‘s #98 that Christian Eckes drove, which means Codie Rohrbaugh is back in the #9, Ryan Reed replaces Raphaël Lessard in GMS Racing‘s #24 after the latter was ousted from the ride, Erik Darnell makes his first Truck start since 2008 in Niece Motorsports’ #45, Cory Roper is back in his #04 that Chase Briscoe drove, and Bayley Currey is in Niece’s #44 after driving the #45.

David Gilliland Racing‘s #17, which skipped the last two races after Taylor Gray was hurt, returns to the track with their ownder/driver at the helm, as does the part-time entry of Parker Kligerman. Reaume Brothers Racing will have two different drivers from last week as Akinori Ogata is in the #34 and McLeod drives the #33.

Start	Number	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	4	John Hunter Nemechek	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Toyota
2	16	Austin Hill	Hattori Racing Enterprises	Toyota
3	21	Zane Smith	GMS Racing	Chevrolet
4	99	Ben Rhodes	ThorSport Racing	Toyota
5	38	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford
6	13	Johnny Sauter	ThorSport Racing	Toyota
7	52	Stewart Friesen	Halmar Friesen Racing	Toyota
8	18	Chandler Smith	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Toyota
9	88	Matt Crafton	ThorSport Racing	Toyota
10	1	Hailie Deegan	David Gilliland Racing	Ford
11	15	Tanner Gray	David Gilliland Racing	Ford
12	22	Austin Wayne Self	AM Racing	Chevrolet
13	51	Corey Heim	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Toyota
14	42	Carson Hocevar	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet
15	2	Sheldon Creed	GMS Racing	Chevrolet
16	26	Tyler Ankrum	GMS Racing	Chevrolet
17	98	Grant Enfinger	ThorSport Racing	Toyota
18	40	Ryan Truex	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet
19	24	Ryan Reed	GMS Racing	Chevrolet
20	19	Derek Kraus	McAnally-Hilgemann Racing	Toyota
21	25	Timothy Peters	Rackley WAR	Chevrolet
22	45	Erik Darnell	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet
23	34	Akinori Ogata	Reaume Brothers Racing	Toyota
24	23	Chase Purdy	GMS Racing	Chevrolet
25	9	Codie Rohrbaugh	CR7 Motorsports	Chevrolet
26	56	Timmy Hill	Hill Motorsports	Chevrolet
27	30	Danny Bohn	On Point Motorsports	Toyota
28	11	Spencer Davis	Spencer Davis Motorsports	Toyota
29	04	Cory Roper	Roper Racing	Ford
30	02	Kris Wright	Young’s Motorsports	Chevrolet
31	3	Jordan Anderson	Jordan Anderson Racing	Chevrolet
32	41	Dawson Cram	Cram Racing Enterprises	Chevrolet
33	12	Tate Fogleman	Young’s Motorsports	Chevrolet
34	20	Spencer Boyd	Young’s Motorsports	Chevrolet
35	17	David Gilliland	David Gilliland Racing	Ford
36	75	Parker Kligerman	Henderson Motorsports	Chevrolet
37	10	Jennifer Jo Cobb	Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing	Chevrolet
38	44	Bayley Currey	Niece Motorsports	Chevrolet
39	33	B.J. McLeod	Reaume Brothers Racing	Chevrolet
40	6	Norm Benning	Norm Benning Racing	Chevrolet