Hampton, Georgia — At Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, Michael McDowell secured his seventh pole of the year, and seven of the top ten positions for Sunday’s playoff opening race were occupied by Ford drivers. McDowell claimed the pole with a lap of 179.267 mph around the 1.54-mile track.

After a lap of 178.844 mph, reigning Cup champion Ryan Blaney will start second.

ADDITIONAL:Atlanta starting lineup Todd Gilliland, McDowell’s Front Row Motorsports teammate, qualified third with a lap of 178.770 mph.

Josh Berry (178.453 mph) will start fourth and Austin Cindric (178.430) qualified fifth. The top five were all in Fords.

The other Fords in the top 10 were Chase Briscoe, who won the Southern 500 last weekend, in 10th place with a lap of 178.086 mph, and Joey Logano, who came in seventh place with a speed of 178.361 mph.

Top non-Ford was Kyle Larson. With a lap of 178.367 mph, he qualified his Chevrolet for sixth place. The leading Toyota driver was Ty Gibbs.

After a lap of 177.125 mph, he will start twenty-first. Among the six playoff drivers who start 20th or worse is Gibbs.

The remaining runners are Tyler Reddick (23rd), Christopher Bell (26th), Daniel Suarez (30th), Denny Hamlin (38th), and Martin Truex Jr. (22nd). Suarez is the only one not in a Toyota.

On his qualifying lap, Hamlin said his car had a problem with the powerplant.

In his career, Hamlin will only start a race from the rear for the second time.

On Sunday, USA Network will air the program. Coverage of the pre-race starts at 2:30 p.m. ET. At 3 p.m. ET, race coverage starts.