RICHMOND, Va. — Ryan Preece has delivered in the clutch, claiming the second Busch Light Pole Award of his career Friday afternoon at Richmond Raceway as he tries to earn a playoff position with only two regular-season races remaining to set the 16-driver NASCAR Cup Series championship field.
It‘s certainly a good omen for Preece heading into Saturday night‘s Cook Out 400 (7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) at the three-quarter mile track.
RELATED: Starting lineup | At-track photos: Richmond
His No. 60 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford Mustang turned a fast lap of 121.381 mph, edging 23XI Racing‘s Tyler Reddick by .087 seconds. The 34-year-old Connecticut-native Preece last led the field to green in 2023 at another Virginia short track, Martinsville Speedway.
“I felt like it was on my bingo card, I‘m not sure about everybody else‘s,” said a smiling Preece, who currently trails his RFK teammate Chris Buescher by 34 points for the final playoff points position.
“That Ford Mustang was really sporty. I felt good about it in practice and it showed up for qualifying. We have a great starting spot and tomorrow we‘ve just got to go execute and hopefully we can win this race.”
“At a place like this, I would rather be out front. … I‘d rather be the one leading. Tomorrow is about getting out front, getting the clean air and setting my pace.”
It was also a particularly good day for the small Kaulig Racing team, whose veteran driver A.J. Allmendinger qualified third fastest (120.854 mph) for his best career start at the track. Virginia native and hometown favorite, Joe Gibbs Racing‘s Denny Hamlin (120.822 mph), will roll off fourth. Hendrick Motorsports‘ Chase Elliott (120.746 mph) rounds out the top five.
Among those contending for the final three playoff positions. Reddick needs only to gain 30 points if there’s no new winner on Saturday night to finalize his spot. Hendrick Motorsports‘ Alex Bowman, who holds a 60-point advantage inside the standings, will start ninth. Buescher, in the 16th and final playoff points position, qualified 12th.
Thirteen different drivers have claimed playoff positions with victories this season. A new race winner this week at Richmond or next week in the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway would leap over Reddick, Bowman and Buescher in the playoff eligibility.
NASCAR Cup Series championship leader, Hendrick Motorsports‘ William Byron, qualified 14th. He holds a 42-point advantage on his teammate Elliott for the Regular Season Championship and the 15 bonus points that pay following the Daytona race.
Richard Childress Racing‘s Austin Dillon, the defending race winner, will start 11th.
Kyle Busch paces practice
No. 8 Richarch Childress Racing wheelman and six-time Richmond winner, Busch turned the fastest lap in practice Friday evening, clocking in a lap of 118.172 mph in Group 1. He also had the best 5-, 10-, 15-, 20-, 25- and 30-lap averages.
John Hunter Nemechek (118.110 mph), Denny Hamlin (117.909 mph), Noah Gragson (117.889mph) and 23XI Racing part-time driver Corey Heim (117.575 mph) completed the top five.
Kyle Larson, Ty Dillon, Justin Haley, Cole Custer and Riley Herbst rounded out the top 10.
Two separate issues paused Group 2 practice. Joey Logano suffered a tire issue and hit the outside wall in Turn 4, and Carson Hocevar went for a spin in the final minute of the session. Logano placed last of 38 drivers in the session.
Read the full article here