RICHMOND, Va. — Ryan Preece, the first driver outside a playoff spot, will start on the pole in Saturday night’s Cup race at Richmond Raceway.
It is Preece’s second career Cup pole. He enters the race 34 points behind RFK Racing teammate Chris Buescher for the final playoff spot with two races left in the regular season.
USA Network will broadcast Saturday night’s race. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET.
“For me, it’s a great opportunity to go win the stage and get 10 points,” Preece said of winning the pole. “As much as I hate talking about points, especially racing against my teammate … this is an opportunity to try and close back in on some of those points he put on us, but as well as an opportunity for us to execute (Saturday).”
Preece earned the pole with a lap of 121.381 mph. Tyler Reddick qualified second with a lap of 120.908 mph.
AJ Allmendinger (120.854 mph) will start third, followed by Denny Hamlin (120.822) and Chase Elliott (120.746).
Buescher qualified 12th with a lap of 120.374 mph.
Joey Logano will start last in the 38-car field. He had a tire go down and hit the wall in practice.
