Allgaier Awarded Martinsville O'Reilly Pole After Rain Hits

Justin Allgaier will lead the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series field to green in Saturday's NFPA 250 at Martinsville Speedway, after a lingering shower forcecd the cancellation of qualifying from the half-mile paperclip.

Although six cars had already hit the racetrack, the fastest of which was NASCAR Cup Series regular Ross Chastain in the No. 91 Chevrolet for DGM Racing, not everybody had the opportunity to post a qualifying lap before the rain came, meaning the lineup will be set by the NASCAR Rule Book (AKA the 'Performance Metric').

NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series points leader and winner of two of the series' last three events (Phoenix and Darlington), Justin Allgaier, will be credited with a first-place starting spot in his No. 7 BRANDT Fresh Agriculture Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports.

Allgaier was ranked 24th quickest overall in Friday's 50-minute practice session, which included some drivers at the top of the speed charts laying down some mock qualifying runs ahead of the all-important qualifying session.

Rajah Caruth, who returns to the driver's seat of the No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports after spending the last three weekends with Jordan Anderson Racing, will start on the outside of the front row. Martinsville is the site of a pair of top-12 finishes with Alpha Prime Racing during his first stint in the second-tier series multiple years ago.

Brandon Jones and Brent Crews, teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing, will occupy the second row when the green flag drops tomorrow, with Carson Kvapil rounding out the top-five in another entry out of the JR Motorsports stable. Sheldon Creed, Corey Day, Jesse Love, Sammy Smith, and Parker Retzlaff will complete the top-10 starters.

Lee Pulliam, making his NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series debut in the No. 9 for JR Motorsports, will start 12th. The tenured Late Model driver was the fastest car in the practice session after crew chief Phillip Bell had the Folsom Fence-sponsored machine make a mock qualifying run.

Andrew Patterson (starting 19th) and Luke Baldwin (starting 29th) will also be making their NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series debuts on Saturday, driving for Jordan Anderson Racing and Hettinger Racing, respectively. Justin Carroll also attempted to do so driving for Joey Gase Motorsports, but failed to qualify along with Mike Harmon Racing driver Dawson Cram.

The NFPA 250 will take place Saturday, March 28 at 3:30 PM ET on The CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

NFPA 250 Starting Lineup:

1. #7 - Justin Allgaier
2. #88 - Rajah Caruth
3. #20 - Brandon Jones
4. #19 - Brent Crews
5. #1 - Carson Kvapil
6. #00 - Sheldon Creed
7. #17 - Corey Day
8. #2 - Jesse Love
9. #8 - Sammy Smith
10. #99 - Parker Retzlaff
11. #41 - Sam Mayer
12. #9 - Lee Pulliam
13. #54 - Taylor Gray
14. #39 - Ryan Sieg
15. #96 - Anthony Alfredo
16. #18 - William Sawalich
17. #44 - Brennan Poole
18. #25 - Nick Sanchez
19. #32 - Andrew Patterson
20. #51 - Jeremy Clements
21. #07 - Josh Bilicki
22. #26 - Dean Thompson
23. #27 - Jeb Burton
24. #24 - Harrison Burton
25. #0 - Garrett Smithley
26. #21 - Austin Hill
27, #48 - Patrick Staropoli
28. #31 - Blaine Perkins
29. #5 - Luke Baldwin
30. #87 - Austin Green
31. #92 - Josh Williams
32. #02 - Ryan Ellis
33. #55 - Joey Gase
34. #42 - Brad Perez
35. #28 - Kyle Sieg
36. #45 - Lavar Scott
37. #30 - Myatt Snider
38. #91 - Ross Chastain
DNQ: #74 - Dawson Cram
DNQ: #35 - Justin Carroll