Ryan Preece will lead the field to green Saturday night at Richmond Raceway, aiming to secure his place in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Preece claimed his second career pole — and first since Martinsville in April 2023 — with a blistering lap of 121.381 mph in the No. 60 Ford. The start will mark just his second pole in 212 Cup Series races.
“What a great car,” Preece said after qualifying. With only two races left in the regular season, he still has a path to the playoffs via points, but a win would guarantee his spot in the 16-driver championship field.
Tyler Reddick will start alongside Preece on the front row. A strong finish would lock Reddick into the playoffs on points. AJ Allmendinger qualified third despite a pair of prerace inspection failures on his No. 16 Chevrolet — penalties that cost his team its pit stall selection and led to the ejection of car chief Jaron Antley.
Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott completed the top five.
Nine winless drivers qualified inside the top 15, including Brad Keselowski (sixth), Alex Bowman (ninth), Michael McDowell (10th), Austin Dillon (11th), Chris Buescher (12th) and Carson Hocevar (15th). Meanwhile, Ty Gibbs (22nd) and Kyle Busch (28th) will have more work to do to reach the front.
Three-time Cup champion Joey Logano, a two-time Richmond winner, will start at the back of the 38-car field after failing to record a qualifying lap. Logano’s No. 22 Ford suffered a right-front tire issue in practice that sent him into the Turn 4 wall.
Track position will be critical at Richmond, where long green-flag runs often make it difficult to recover from early setbacks. Last August’s race featured just three cautions — tied for the fewest at a short track since the debut of the Next Gen car in 2022.
Coverage of the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway will air on USA Network beginning at 7:30 pm ET.
Richmond Raceway Cup Series Starting Lineup
Qualifying: August 15, 2025; Race: August 16, 2025
|
POSITION
|
BEST SPEED
|
BEST TIME
|
BEHIND
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
R. Preece #60
|
121.381
|
22.244
|
Winner
|
|
2 |
T. Reddick #45
|
120.908
|
22.331
|
0.087
|
|
3 |
A. Allmendinger #16
|
120.854
|
22.341
|
0.097
|
|
4 |
D. Hamlin #11
|
120.822
|
22.347
|
0.103
|
|
5 |
C. Elliott #9
|
120.746
|
22.361
|
0.117
|
|
6 |
B. Keselowski #6
|
120.741
|
22.362
|
0.118
|
|
7 |
B. Wallace #23
|
120.649
|
22.379
|
0.135
|
|
8 |
C. Bell #20
|
120.622
|
22.384
|
0.140
|
|
9 |
A. Bowman #48
|
120.552
|
22.397
|
0.153
|
|
10 |
M. McDowell #71
|
120.503
|
22.406
|
0.162
|
|
11 |
A. Dillon #3
|
120.396
|
22.426
|
0.182
|
|
12 |
C. Buescher #17
|
120.374
|
22.430
|
0.186
|
|
13 |
A. Cindric #2
|
120.310
|
22.442
|
0.198
|
|
14 |
W. Byron #24
|
120.208
|
22.461
|
0.217
|
|
15 |
C. Hocevar #77
|
119.995
|
22.501
|
0.257
|
|
16 |
T. Dillon #10
|
119.968
|
22.506
|
0.262
|
|
17 |
J. Berry #21
|
119.915
|
22.516
|
0.272
|
|
18 |
E. Jones #43
|
119.861
|
22.526
|
0.282
|
|
19 |
C. Briscoe #19
|
119.760
|
22.545
|
0.301
|
|
20 |
R. Blaney #12
|
119.745
|
22.548
|
0.304
|
|
21 |
D. Suárez #99
|
119.739
|
22.549
|
0.305
|
|
22 |
N. Gragson #4
|
119.739
|
22.549
|
0.305
|
|
23 |
T. Gibbs #54
|
119.718
|
22.553
|
0.309
|
|
24 |
C. Custer #41
|
119.591
|
22.577
|
0.333
|
|
25 |
J. Haley #7
|
119.427
|
22.608
|
0.364
|
|
26 |
R. Herbst #35
|
119.427
|
22.608
|
0.364
|
|
27 |
S. Van Gisbergen #88
|
119.226
|
22.646
|
0.402
|
|
28 |
K. Busch #8
|
119.053
|
22.679
|
0.435
|
|
29 |
Z. Smith #38
|
119.048
|
22.680
|
0.436
|
|
30 |
K. Larson #5
|
118.985
|
22.692
|
0.448
|
|
31 |
T. Gilliland #34
|
118.812
|
22.725
|
0.481
|
|
32 |
C. Heim #67
|
118.697
|
22.747
|
0.503
|
|
33 |
R. Chastain #1
|
118.655
|
22.755
|
0.511
|
|
34 |
J. Nemechek #42
|
118.302
|
22.823
|
0.579
|
|
35 |
J. Love #33
|
118.260
|
22.831
|
0.587
|
|
36 |
R. Stenhouse Jr #47
|
118.203
|
22.842
|
0.598
|
|
37 |
C. Ware #51
|
117.662
|
22.947
|
0.703
|
|
38 |
J. Logano #22
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
