Sheldon Creed secured the pole for this weekend’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, topping a final-round qualifying lineup that included Austin Hill, Sam Mayer, Brandon Jones, Jesse Love, Connor Zilisch, Taylor Gray, CJ McLaughlin, Harrison Burton and Aric Almirola. The pole is a boost for Creed, who sits 30 points above the playoff cut-line with eight events left in the regular season. In the championship hunt, three-time race winner Justin Allgaier holds a 49-point advantage over both Hill and Mayer. Behind the leading trio, Zilisch has two wins, while Love, Jones, Sanchez and Smith each have one. Mayer remains a comfortable 149 points clear of the cutoff, followed by Kvapil (+63), Creed (+30), Jeb Burton (+22) and Gray (+8). Harrison Burton is eight points outside the provisional playoff field, with Ryan Sieg 30 points back and Christian Eckes 60 down.