Qualifying Results

A miracle pole run for Ken Pettit is exactly what the doctor ordered. A lap of 172.554 narrowly edges out Ryan Heuser for the pole, ending his 118-race pole-less streak and hopefully his half-decade long winless streak since 2019 at Atlanta. The Marley machine only has three top-5 finishes since his Championship run in 2019. John Battista has more victories in a seven race stretch. Battista will start 11th on the grid, looking to win five out of eight. Dalton Lucas and David Butterworth also pull off miracle qualifying runs inside the top-10. Johnny Reed Foley won this event last season for his second victory on his new team. Who will win the Rebel 400 this year?

Ken Pettit wins his first pole in 118 events, winning a Championship in-between and solidifying himself as the "we don't know how he's going to do" driver every race. In a way, he's the most exciting driver in Extravaganza. He started this season with four-straight finishes 25th or worse in shades of his 2022 hangover. Since then, he's finished 12th or better in five of the last six, bumping to 16th in points after many started to question his talent. It's a roll of the dice, but the 2021 Champion has a head start this time. Ken's last pole was the 2020 Daytona 500, fairing in 7th place. An excellent run at Darlington could be the impetus for another quiet bid for the Championship crown. 

John Battista is on the greatest stretch of his Extravaganza career, even surpassing the 2021 joy-ride that led to a league-leading 8 victories and 1,230 laps led. The only performance that could overmatch it in recent years was Ryan Heuser's comeback extravaganza during the 2022 summer-stretch. From Sonoma to Michigan, Heuser won 6 out of 8 including a second-place finish at Nashville. Battista is off to a much better start than Heuser did last season, and is currently on pace for 15 victories if he continues to dominate at the same rate. Forget Beatlemania. Forget the Rakestraw Rakes festival, where every fan brought their rakes to the track and waved them in sheer euphoria. This one may be even more special.

Friday, April 28th, 6:00 ET