NASCAR: Kurt Busch wins pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval

On an unpredictable course like the Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the track's position is still precious.

That means Kurt Busch, who won pole position Friday night for the Bank of America ROVAL 400 race on Sunday, must be particularly pleased with his performance.

"It's very special. Any inaugural event is fun, Busch said. "We had a plan for that. … I'm really proud of everyone on this 41 "car.

While Busch will start on pole, he will be joined on the front line by A.J. Allmendinger. Alex Bowman will start third, Chase Elliott fourth and Kyle Larson fifth.

As for the Big 4? They were nowhere at the top of the qualifications.

Martin Truex Jr. will start in the 13th. Kyle Busch 14th, Kevin Harvick 19th and Brad Keselowski 25th.

Other notes from a busy Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway:

▪ JTG Daugherty Racing has announced that Ryan Preece will join his Cup Series team and drive the # 47 car starting next season. Preece, currently part-time driver of the Xfinity series, will replace A.J. Allmendinger at JTG. Chris Buescher, 23rd in the Cup Series standings, will be back with the team in 2019 as well.

▪ In a second pilot announcement Friday, Richard Childress Racing has confirmed that Daniel Hemric will be the second driver of the Cup series next season. Hemric is currently second in the Xfinity series standings and will replace Ryan Newman, who has already announced that he will be relocating to Roush Fenway Racing for the 2019 season.

"I am incredibly honored and humiliated," Hemric said. "My dream has always been to race for the NASCAR Cup Series championships. I have worked hard to get here and those who know me and support me know that I take nothing for granted. The time has come to move on to the next step.

▪ Aric Almirola, sixth in the points standings ahead of Sunday's race, made headlines on Friday. Almirola was asked if he found any additional motivation in the fact that many media experts predicted that he would be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, and … well, he certainly found something.

"I do not really care what everyone says or thinks, because the opinion of your guys or that of someone else does not make my car faster, and neither of them. You do not sign my checks. "I think we focus on what we do and what we do and we go to work, and on some weekends it's enough to win and some weekends. "

▪ Several cars had problems or suffered damage in the first qualifying session of the Cup series on Friday, the worst of which was Austin Dillon. Dillon stepped into the wall exiting the chicane and tore his left front bumper, but he was hardly the only one to have trouble.

Denny Hamlin also suffered damage on the same stretch and Kyle Busch eventually crossed the grass. Bubba Wallace and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. also found themselves in the infield near Turn 3.