NASCAR at Chicagoland 2018 Qualifying Results: Paul Menard Takes Pole

For the second time in his career and first time in a decade, Paul Menard has won a pole.

Menard posted the fastest time during the Overton's 400 qualifying on Saturday, with Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin and Kurt Busch rounding out the top five.

Below is a look at the qualifying results for Sunday's race at Chicagoland Speedway.

2018 Overton's 400 Starting Lineup

1. Paul Menard (29.998)

2. Ryan Blaney (30.020)

3. Chase Elliott (30.042)

4. Denny Hamlin (30.044)

5. Kurt Busch (30.076)

6. Clint Bowyer (30.085)

7. Aric Almirola (30.124)

Brad Keselowski (30.152)

9. William Byron (30.158)

10. Erik Jones (30.197)

*Full order can be viewed on NASCAR's official website.

Recap

Menard managed to just edge Blaney by 0.022 with a late push:

With that, he ended a long drought of not winning a pole. Just how long of a drought? His last pole came on July 4, 2008, at Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero 400. That was his first, and, up until Saturday, his only career pole.

ESPN's Bob Pockrass noted that it was Menard's first pole in 359 races. In other words, it was a long time coming.

Afterward, he the 37-year-old talked about the accomplishment:

Menard is now in good position to rebound from a 26th-place finish at last week's Toyota/Save Mart 350. He is, on the other hand, just two races removed from his best result of the season, a fifth-place finish at Michigan International Speedway. He entered the weekend 17th in the points standings.

Meanwhile, NASCAR's overall points leader, Kyle Busch, had a rough day. The No. 18 car will start in the 18th spot.

Fresh off a victory at Sonoma Raceway last week, Martin Truex Jr. managed to make it to the final round of qualifying. However, he was not able to keep up, putting himself in the 12th spot to start on Sunday.

The Overton's 400 gets underway at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET.