Ryan Preece Secures Pole at Richmond
In an exciting qualifying session, Ryan Preece secured the pole position for Saturday night’s race at Richmond Raceway, seeking to secure a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Preece earned his second pole position in 212 Cup races, with a lap at 121.381 mph on the 0.75-mile oval aboard his No. 60 Ford.With only two races remaining in the regular season, Preece can still access the playoffs through the points standings, but a win would guarantee him an automatic spot. Tyler Reddick, who could secure his playoff spot with a good result on Saturday, qualified in second place. Meanwhile, AJ Allmendinger will start third even though his No. 16 Chevrolet failed two pre-race inspections, resulting in the loss of his pit stall selection and the ejection of crew chief Jaron Antley. Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott rounded out the top five in the standings. In addition to Preece, Reddick, and Allmendinger, six other winless drivers 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 path to advance. Joey Logano, three-time Cup champion and two-time Richmond winner, 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 races often have long green-flag runs, making it easy for drivers to lose a lap. Last August’s race had only three caution flags, the fewest on a short track since the introduction of the Next Gen car in 2022.What a great car!
Ryan Preece
