RICHMOND, Va. - Joey Logano picked up his fifth Coors Light Pole Award of the season on Friday after topping the final qualifying round for Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway.
Logano bested strong favorite Matt Kenseth with a lap of 126.470 mph (21.349 seconds) to win his 13th-career pole and his second in a row at Richmond.
Brad Keselowski will start third in Saturday night’s race, followed by Kyle Busch and David Ragan.
Logano had barely cracked the top 10 during the first two practice sessions and came in 12th in the opening round of qualifying, but came back strong finishing second to Kenseth in the second round before taking the pole.
“We weren’t able to put down a fast lap in practice but I felt like as we kept working on it that we were a little better at the end of practice but we didn’t have another set of tires to put back on,” said Logano. “It was a little bit of an unknown going into qualifying and I didn’t know where we would stack up. That first run we were 12th and then we were 2nd and then on top in the third round.
“This is a tough place to qualify because the track is changing with the sun going down and a lot of tire wear. It is nice to have a good starting spot here. If you are up front you can take care of your tires better through the first part of the race. That should help us with the first pit stall and we will go let it rip.”
Kenseth led both of the opening rounds and raced to the top of the leaderboard early in the third and final round before Logano took to the track, second Kenseth to the outside pole.
Kenseth’s runner-up spot puts three of the four Joe Gibbs Racing cars in the top 10, but was not the run he was looking for.
“I knew it right when the first lap was over as soon as I got through (turns) 1 and 2 but it’s hard to be disappointed with second but I’m really disappointed with second,” said Kenseth. “I got a little too aggressive getting back to the gas and that messed up my center and my exit and I knew I left all the time there and we weren’t really setup to run a fast second lap. That was kind of it. I feel bad I kind of messed that up but hopefully we’ll have a fast car tomorrow night and we can keep it up front.”
Saturday night’s race marks the last race in Sprint Cup’s “regular season” with 16 drivers slated to begin the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup next weekend at Chicago Speedway.
Coming into the race, 11 drivers are locked into the field, with five drivers vying for the remaining spots, while as many as 10 drivers are looking to race their way in with a win on Saturday.
Among those on the outside looking in is Kyle Larson, who will roll off 11th on Saturday and hopes to pull off an upset victory to secure himself a spot in the Chase.
“I think everybody wants to win every week and that is their goal,” said Larson. “I guess it would be nicer to be in Matt’s (Kenseth) situation where you have three wins and knowing you are already locked in the Chase rather than knowing you have to go out there and win to get in. So no, I don’t think it makes it any easier. I think it almost makes it tougher knowing that you don’t have any room for error throughout the 400 laps.”
Kevin Harvick will start in the sixth position, followed by Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart.
Timmy Hill and Josh Wise were the two drivers to miss the field.
WDUN will have live MRN Radio coverage of Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 from Richmond International Raceway beginning at 6:30 pm on 102.9 FM.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Richmond International Raceway – Richmond, VA
Federated Auto Parts 400 – Sept. 11, 2015
Friday’s Qualifying Results
1. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 126.470 mph.
2. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 126.357 mph.
3. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 126.351 mph.
4. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 125.950 mph.
5. (55) David Ragan, Toyota, 125.827 mph.
6. (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 125.798 mph.
7. (19) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 125.733 mph.
8. (41) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 125.488 mph.
9. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 125.406 mph.
10. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 125.278 mph.
11. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 125.232 mph.
12. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 125.174 mph.
13. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 126.334 mph.
14. (10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 126.310 mph.
15. (13) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 126.198 mph.
16. (78) Martin Truex, Jr., Chevrolet, 126.133 mph.
17. (33) Brian Scott(i), Chevrolet, 126.027 mph.
18. (51) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 125.939 mph.
19. (17) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Ford, 125.880 mph.
20. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 125.839 mph.
21. (47) A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 125.786 mph.
22. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 125.710 mph.
23. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 125.599 mph.
24. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 125.529 mph.
25. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 127.101 mph.
26. (15) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 127.095 mph.
27. (46) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 127.095 mph.
28. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 127.059 mph.
29. (88) Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Chevrolet, 126.820 mph.
30. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, 126.784 mph.
31. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 126.493 mph.
32. (9) Sam Hornish, Jr., Ford, 126.280 mph.
33. (83) Matt DiBenedetto #, Toyota, 126.280 mph.
34. (35) Cole Whitt, Ford, 125.992 mph.
35. (40) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 125.915 mph.
36. (7) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 125.903 mph.
37. (34) Brett Moffitt #, Ford, Owner Points
38. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, Owner Points
39. (95) Michael McDowell, Ford, Owner Points
40. (98) Reed Sorenson, Ford, Owner Points
41. (23) Jeb Burton #, Toyota, Owner Points
42. (32) Jeffrey Earnhardt(i), Ford, Owner Points
43. (26) J.J. Yeley(i), Toyota, Owner Points
Did Not Qualify
44. (30) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 125.646 mph.
45. (62) Timmy Hill(i), Chevrolet, 117.950 mph.
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