Ryan Preece grabbed the pole position at Richmond Raceway, marking a significant moment for RFK Racing. Preece, 34 points outside the playoff cut-line, secured the top spot for the penultimate race of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season with a lap of 22.244 seconds. This is RFK Racing’s first pole since September 2022.
“Great adjustments by Derrick [Finley, crew chief] and everyone on this Ford Mustang,” Preece said. “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 edged out Tyler Reddick by 0.087 seconds, with Reddick set to start alongside him on the front row in the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota. A.J. Allmendinger qualified third, recovering from a pre-qualifying inspection issue. Denny Hamlin will start fourth, followed by Chase Elliott in fifth.
Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman, and Michael McDowell rounded out the top ten. Chris Buescher, Preece’s RFK Racing teammate and currently holding the 16th and final playoff spot, qualified 12th.
The qualifying session saw times steadily improve as drivers took to the track. Preece was the 29th car out. Several drivers pushed their machines to the limit, with Justin Haley, Erik Jones, and Shane van Gisbergen all making contact with the wall at the exit of Turn 4.
Joey Logano faced a challenging qualifying session after an incident in practice involving a right-front tire failure. Despite attempts by Team Penske to repair the car, Logano had to abandon his lap due to a severe tire rub.
Watch: Joey Logano makes hard contact with wall after right-front tire issue
Austin Dillon, who won at Richmond a year ago in a controversial finish, qualified 11th. His teammate at Richard Childress Racing, Kyle Busch, who topped practice speeds, qualified 28th. Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports will start 30th.
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