Truex is the defending champion at Kentucky and was in contention for a win as well in 2016, and had it not been for a penalty on pit road he may have come away with the win.

He will be starting from the front again Saturday, and with four of the last seven winners in Kentucky starting from the front row, Truex has to feel good about his chances.

“Starting up front is key,” Truex told NBCSN after his run. “So first pit stall will be good for here, and hopefully we can back up what we did last year.”

Erik Jones followed up his win at the Coke Zero Sugar 400 with a second-place finish in qualifying Friday. Kevin Harvick will start third, Brad Keselowski fourth and Kyle Busch fifth.

Denny Hamlin, who is ninth in the Cup Series Standings, did not pass tech and will start at the back.

The Quaker State 400 can be seen at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday on NBCSN.

Starting lineup for the Quaker State 400

  1. Martin Truex Jr.2. Erik Jones3. Kevin Harvick4. Brad Keselowski5. Kyle Busch6. Paul Menard7. Ryan Blaney8. Clint Bowyer9. Kurt Busch10. Ryan Newman11. Daniel Suarez12. Aric Almirola13. Austin Dillon14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 15. Alex Bowman16. Chase Elliott17. Matt Kenseth18. Kyle Larson19. Joey Logano20. Chris Buescher21. William Byron22. Jamie McMurray23. Michael McDowell24. David Ragan25. Bubba Wallace Jr.26. AJ Allmendinger27. Jimmie Johnson28. Ty Dillon29. Kasey Kahne30. Ross Chastain31. Corey Lajoie32. JJ Yeley33. Landon Cassill34. BJ McLeod35. Garrett Smithley36. Denny Hamlin

Did Not Advance37. Matt DiBenedetto38. Jesse Little39. Timmy Hill

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