NASCAR playoffs at Talladega starting lineup: Michael McDowell wins his fifth-straight superspeedway pole
In doing so, McDowell became the first NASCAR Cup Series driver since the mid-1980s to win five-straight poles for superspeedway races. The last to do so was Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, who won six straight between his victory in the 1985 Daytona 500 and the Talladega spring race in 1986.