Travis Pastrana wins first career NASCAR pole

Jeff Gluck, USA TODAY Sports | USATODAY

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Travis Pastrana, the action sports star turned NASCAR driver, won his first career pole position on Friday at Talladega Superspeedway in advance of Saturday's Aaron's 312 Nationwide Series race.

Pastrana, who has just 16 Nationwide races under his belt, will lead the starting field at NASCAR's biggest track.

"Sounds like a dream come true," Pastrana said. "Bringing the guys to the (start) line at Talladega is awesome.

"As far as something to check off the list, this is really, really high on that list. So I'm excited."

But after the start, Pastrana said he plans to opt for a safer approach — dropping to the back and riding around to avoid a big wreck until the final 10 or so laps.

Danica Patrick, who is driving in only her second Nationwide race of the year after the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway, qualified fourth. Patrick has enjoyed much of her greatest success in NASCAR at restrictor-plate tracks and led in all three Nationwide Series races at Talladega and Daytona last season.

Austin Dillon qualified second, followed by Pastrana's teammate Trevor Bayne (who won the pole at Daytona).

"It's really cool our teammate was able to get his first pole here," Bayne said. "It just shows how strong our team is."

Follow Jeff Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck

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Aaron's 312 lineup

Friday's qualifying results for the Nationwide Series race Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway:

1. (60) Travis Pastrana, Ford, 176.5.

2. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 176.162.

3. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 176.071.

4. (34) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 175.877.

5. (31) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 175.868.

6. (12) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 175.771.

7. (11) Elliott Sadler, Toyota, 175.732.

8. (2) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 175.587.

9. (1) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 175.52.

10. (54) Joey Coulter, Toyota, 175.33.

11. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 175.324.

12. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 175.269.

13. (10) Jeff Green, Toyota, 175.218.

14. (99) Alex Bowman, Toyota, 175.208.

15. (43) Reed Sorenson, Ford, 175.202.

16. (30) Nelson Piquet Jr., Chevrolet, 175.192.

17. (33) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 175.112.

18. (77) Parker Kligerman, Toyota, 174.971.

19. (32) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 174.923.

20. (7) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 174.904.

21. (20) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 174.77.

22. (4) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 174.382.

23. (14) Eric McClure, Toyota, 174.363.

24. (19) Mike Bliss, Toyota, 174.16.

25. (70) Johanna Long, Chevrolet, 174.119.

26. (85) Bobby Gerhart, Chevrolet, 173.998.

27. (79) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ford, 173.859.

28. (74) Mike Harmon, Dodge, 173.821.

29. (55) Jamie Dick, Chevrolet, 173.676.

30. (87) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 173.573.

31. (24) Jason White, Toyota, 173.387.

32. (44) Hal Martin, Toyota, 173.036.

33. (23) Robert Richardson Jr., Chevrolet, 172.855.

34. (00) Blake Koch, Toyota, 172.762.

35. (89) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, 172.367.

36. (52) Donnie Neuenberger, Chevrolet, 171.964.

37. (51) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 171.927.

38. (01) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 171.594.

39. (40) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, Owner Points.

40. (92) Tim Andrews, Ford, 171.764.

Failed to qualify

41. (15) Stanton Barrett, Ford, 170.561.

42. (25) John Wes Townley, Toyota.