Ryan Preece Leads the Starting Grid at Richmond
Richmond, Va. – Ryan Preece will start in the pole position 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 access the playoffs through the points standings, but a win would guarantee him an automatic spot. Tyler Reddick, who can secure his place in the playoffs with a good result on Saturday, qualified in second place. AJ Allmendinger will start third even though his No. 16 Chevrolet failed pre-race inspection twice, resulting in the loss of pit stop selection and the ejection of crew chief Jaron Antley. Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott rounded out the top five in the standings. Alongside 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 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 long green flag runs are common, making it easy to get a lap down. Last August’s race had only three caution flags, tying the minimum on a short track since the Next Gen car debuted in 2022.“What a great car,” commented Preece, whose previous pole was at Martinsville Speedway in April 2023.
Ryan Preece
