Ryan Preece, in hunt for NASCAR playoffs, wins pole at Richmond

RICHMOND, Va. — Ryan Preece will begin from the pole place Saturday evening at Richmond Raceway whereas making an attempt to lock in a spot for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Preece earned his second profession pole in 212 Cup begins with a lap at 121.381 mph across the 0.75-mile oval in his No. 60 Ford.

“What a great car,” stated Preece, whose earlier pole got here at Martinsville Speedway in April 2023.

With two races remaining within the common season, Preece nonetheless could make the playoffs by way of the factors standings, however a win would safe an automated berth.

Tyler Reddick, who can lock into the 16-driver playoff area on factors with a powerful end result Saturday, certified second. AJ Allmendinger will begin third regardless of his No. 16 Chevrolet failing prerace inspection twice, which resulted in a lack of pit stall choice and the ejection of automobile chief Jaron Antley.

Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott rounded out the highest 5 in qualifying.

Sweeping the highest three beginning spots, Preece, Reddick and Allmendinger had been joined by six different winless drivers qualifying within the high 15: Brad Keselowski (sixth), Alex Bowman (ninth), Michael McDowell (tenth), Austin Dillon (eleventh), Chris Buescher (twelfth) and Carson Hocevar (fifteenth). It’ll be a more durable slog to get to the entrance for Ty Gibbs (twenty second) and Kyle Busch (twenty eighth).

Three-time Cup champion Joey Logano, a two-time winner at Richmond, will begin final within the 38-car area after being unable to show a lap in qualifying. Logano hit the Turn 4 wall in observe due to a right-front tire drawback on his No. 22 Ford.

Starting place is vital at Richmond, which tends to have lengthy green-flag stretches when it is simple to fall a lap down. Last August’s race had solely three warning flags, which is tied for the fewest on a brief observe because the 2022 debut of the Next Gen automobile.