Ryan Preece put down a spectacular lap at Richmond Raceway, earning pole position for the penultimate race of the regular season. Preece enters the race 34 points below the cut-line in the fight to make the playoffs, but he will start Saturday's race with a great opportunity to score some vital stage points.
"Great adjustments by Derrick [Finley, crew chief] and everyone on this Ford Mustang," said Preece, who now has two poles in his Cup Series career. "I can't thank RFK enough for the opportunity. What a race car. It might not have shown up in practice, but it did in qualifying."
Preece lapped the Virginia short track in 22.244 seconds, earning pole by 0.087s over Tyler Reddick, who will join him on the front row in the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota. RFK Racing hasn't started a Cup race from pole position since Texas Motor Speedway in September of 2022.
A.J. Allmendinger was very impressive as well, rebounding from an issue in pre-qualifying inspection to time in third. Denny Hamlin ended up fourth, and Chase Elliott fifth. Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman, and Michael McDowell filled out the remainder of the top ten.
Preece's RFK Racing teammate Chris Buescher, who holds the 16th and final spot in the playoffs via points, qualified 12th.
The qualifying session saw times get progressively faster as the session carried on, and Preece was the 29th driver on track.
Justin Haley, Erik Jones, and Shane van Gisbergen all touched the wall at the exit of Turn 4 as they pushed their cars to the absolute limit.
Joey Logano, who wrecked in practice due to a right front tire failure, had more issues in qualifying. Team Penske attempted to repair the car, but he had to abandon the lap due to a severe tire rub.
Austin Dillon, who won this race one year ago in controversial fashion, qualified 11th. His Richard Childress Racing teammate Kyle Busch led the way in practice, but qualifying did not go as well for him as he ended up 28th.
Kyle Larson was another surprise deep in the field, as the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet will start 30th.
| Cla | Driver | # | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Interval | Mph | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | R. PreeceRFK Racing | 60 | Ford | 1 |
22.244 |
121.381 | ||
| 2 | T. Reddick23XI Racing | 45 | Toyota | 1 |
+0.087 22.331 |
0.087 | 120.908 | |
| 3 | A. AllmendingerKaulig Racing | 16 | Chevrolet | 1 |
+0.097 22.341 |
0.010 | 120.854 | |
| 4 | D. HamlinJoe Gibbs Racing | 11 | Toyota | 1 |
+0.103 22.347 |
0.006 | 120.822 | |
| 5 | C. ElliottHendrick Motorsports | 9 | Chevrolet | 1 |
+0.117 22.361 |
0.014 | 120.746 | |
| 6 | B. KeselowskiRFK Racing | 6 | Ford | 1 |
+0.118 22.362 |
0.001 | 120.741 | |
| 7 | B. Wallace23XI Racing | 23 | Toyota | 1 |
+0.135 22.379 |
0.017 | 120.649 | |
| 8 | C. BellJoe Gibbs Racing | 20 | Toyota | 1 |
+0.140 22.384 |
0.005 | 120.622 | |
| 9 | A. BowmanHendrick Motorsports | 48 | Chevrolet | 2 |
+0.153 22.397 |
0.013 | 120.552 | |
| 10 | M. McDowellSpire Motorsports | 71 | Chevrolet | 2 |
+0.162 22.406 |
0.009 | 120.503 | |
| 11 | A. DillonRichard Childress Racing | 3 | Chevrolet | 1 |
+0.182 22.426 |
0.020 | 120.396 | |
| 12 | C. BuescherRFK Racing | 17 | Ford | 1 |
+0.186 22.430 |
0.004 | 120.374 | |
| 13 | A. CindricTeam Penske | 2 | Ford | 1 |
+0.198 22.442 |
0.012 | 120.310 | |
| 14 | W. ByronHendrick Motorsports | 24 | Chevrolet | 1 |
+0.217 22.461 |
0.019 | 120.208 | |
| 15 | C. HocevarSpire Motorsports | 77 | Chevrolet | 1 |
+0.257 22.501 |
0.040 | 119.995 | |
| 16 | T. DillonKaulig Racing | 10 | Chevrolet | 1 |
+0.262 22.506 |
0.005 | 119.968 | |
| 17 |
J. BerryWood Brothers Racing
|
21 | Ford | 2 |
+0.272 22.516 |
0.010 | 119.915 | |
| 18 | E. JonesLegacy Motor Club | 43 | Toyota | 1 |
+0.282 22.526 |
0.010 | 119.861 | |
| 19 | C. BriscoeJoe Gibbs Racing | 19 | Toyota | 1 |
+0.301 22.545 |
0.019 | 119.760 | |
| 20 | R. BlaneyTeam Penske | 12 | Ford | 1 |
+0.304 22.548 |
0.003 | 119.745 | |
| 21 | N. GragsonFront Row Motorsports | 4 | Ford | 1 |
+0.305 22.549 |
0.001 | 119.739 | |
| 22 | D. SuarezTrackHouse Racing | 99 | Chevrolet | 1 |
+0.305 22.549 |
0.000 | 119.739 | |
| 23 | T. GibbsJoe Gibbs Racing | 54 | Toyota | 2 |
+0.309 22.553 |
0.004 | 119.718 | |
| 24 | C. CusterHaas Factory Team | 41 | Ford | 2 |
+0.333 22.577 |
0.024 | 119.591 | |
| 25 | J. HaleySpire Motorsports | 7 | Chevrolet | 1 |
+0.364 22.608 |
0.031 | 119.427 | |
| 26 | R. Herbst23XI Racing | 35 | Toyota | 1 |
+0.364 22.608 |
0.000 | 119.427 | |
| 27 | S. van GisbergenTrackHouse Racing | 88 | Chevrolet | 1 |
+0.402 22.646 |
0.038 | 119.226 | |
| 28 | K. BuschRichard Childress Racing | 8 | Chevrolet | 1 |
+0.435 22.679 |
0.033 | 119.053 | |
| 29 | Z. SmithFront Row Motorsports | 38 | Ford | 1 |
+0.436 22.680 |
0.001 | 119.048 | |
| 30 | K. LarsonHendrick Motorsports | 5 | Chevrolet | 2 |
+0.448 22.692 |
0.012 | 118.985 | |
| 31 | T. GillilandFront Row Motorsports | 34 | Ford | 1 |
+0.481 22.725 |
0.033 | 118.812 | |
| 32 |
C. Heim23XI Racing
|
67 | Toyota | 2 |
+0.503 22.747 |
0.022 | 118.697 | |
| 33 | R. ChastainTrackHouse Racing | 1 | Chevrolet | 2 |
+0.511 22.755 |
0.008 | 118.655 | |
| 34 | J. NemechekLegacy Motor Club | 42 | Toyota | 2 |
+0.579 22.823 |
0.068 | 118.302 | |
| 35 |
J. LoveRichard Childress Racing
|
33 | Chevrolet | 2 |
+0.587 22.831 |
0.008 | 118.260 | |
| 36 | R. Stenhouse JrHyak Motorsports | 47 | Chevrolet | 1 |
+0.598 22.842 |
0.011 | 118.203 | |
| 37 | C. WareRick Ware Racing | 51 | Ford | 1 |
+0.703 22.947 |
0.105 | 117.662 | |
| 38 | J. LoganoTeam Penske | 22 | Ford | 0 |
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