Truex grabs pole position at Talladega

Martin Truex Jr. showed up at Alabama’s Talladega Superspeedway determined to be at the front of the field and in control of his chances in NASCAR’s playoffs. A pole-winning run Saturday put him at the top of the field for the critical elimination race.

Truex turned a lap of 193.423 mph to earn the top starting spot Sunday. The run came after NASCAR confiscated a bolt from his Toyota, but Truex said he was not worried about ramifications to his Furniture Row Racing team.

Winner of two races in the first round of the Chase, Truex is winless in Round 2 but above the cutoff point. Four drivers will be cut from the field on Sunday. Brad Keselowski, in nearly a must-win situation on Sunday, qualified second. He won the knockout race in 2014 to stave off elimination, and said his best starting position at Talladega bodes well for him. Keselowski won at Talladega in May and at Daytona in July. Matt Kenseth qualified third and was followed by Chase Elliott, who is also in a must-win situation on Sunday. Grant Enfinger’s love of racing began as a fan at Talladega Superspeedway, where he made an annual trip as a child with his father and friends. On Saturday, Enfinger grabbed his first career NASCAR victory — at his home track, no less — by holding off the pack to win Talladega’s Truck Series race. Enfinger got a push from teammate Ben Kennedy on a late restart and held off a last-lap challenge by teammate Spencer Gallagher. Gallagher finished second, followed by Timothy Peters, Rico Abreu and Kennedy.

Lewis Hamilton needs a late-season charge to catch Nico Rosberg for the Formula One championship. He can start Sunday from pole position at the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.

Hamilton outgunned his Mercedes rival and teammate on the last lap to grab his first pole position at the Circuit of the Americas, where he’s won three times starting from second. Hamilton’s fastest lap of 1 minute, 34.999 seconds pushed Rosberg to No. 2.