Ryan Preece Secures Pole at Richmond
Richmond, Va. – Ryan Preece will lead the starting grid this Saturday at Richmond Raceway, seeking to secure a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Preece earned his second pole position in 212 Cup races, setting a lap at 121.381 mph on the 0.75-mile oval with his No. 60 Ford.With two races remaining in the regular season, Preece can still qualify for the playoffs through the points standings, but a win would guarantee him an automatic spot. Tyler Reddick, who could secure his place in the playoffs with a good result on Saturday, qualified in second place. AJ Allmendinger will start third despite his No. 16 Chevrolet failing pre-race inspection twice, resulting in the loss of pit stall selection and the ejection of crew chief Jaron Antley. Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott rounded out the top five in the standings. Joining Preece, Reddick, and Allmendinger at the front of the starting grid are six other winless drivers who qualified in the top 15: Brad Keselowski (sixth), Alex Bowman (ninth), Michael McDowell (tenth), Austin Dillon (eleventh), Chris Buescher (twelfth), and Carson Hocevar (fifteenth). Ty Gibbs (22nd) and Kyle Busch (28th) will have a more difficult task to advance. Joey Logano, three-time Cup champion and two-time winner at Richmond, will start last on the 38-car grid after failing to complete a lap in qualifying. Logano hit the wall in Turn 4 during practice due to a problem with the front right tire of his No. 22 Ford. The starting position is crucial in Richmond, where there are usually long green flag runs, making it easy to lose a lap. Last August’s race had only three caution flags, tied for the fewest on a short track since the Next Gen car debuted in 2022.What a great car!
Ryan Preece
