Jesse Love rockets to Xfinity Series pole at Talladega

Xfinity Series rookie Jesse Love laid down the fastest lap of Saturday's qualifying session at Talladega, earning his fifth pole of the season — all of which have come on superspeedways. 

The pole gives Love a sweep of Talladega pole positions in 2024. 

Joining Love on the front row will be RCR teammate and fellow playoff driver Austin Hill — who, despite his success on drafting tracks, is still searching for his first Talladega victory. 

Nine of the 10 drivers who made the final round of qualifying are playoff drivers, with only Aric Almirola spoiling the postseason party. 

Chandler Smith, Sheldon Creed and AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top-five, with Parker Kligerman, Riley Herbst, Shane van Gisbergen, Almirola and Cole Custer completing the top-10. 

Other notable starters include Sam Mayer in 12th, Justin Allgaier in 14th, Carson Kvapil in 18th, Sammy Smith in 27th and Matt DiBenedetto in 33rd. 

"Long race ahead of us tonight," Love told NBC Sports. "We're working with him (Austin Hill) to try and control the race the best we can. Gonna be a lot of people who probably don't want to work with us tonight, as fast as our cars are. I feel like we can control our own destiny and control the race and stay out front. The big thing is stage points tonight. If we can build a cushion, we're going to do that."

The United Rentals 250 — which is the second race in the Xfinity Series' Round of 12 — will go green shortly after 4 p.m. ET. Race coverage will be provided on the CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.