Richmond NASCAR: Brad Keselowski claims fourth pole of 2014
Brad Keselowski secured his fourth pole position of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup season after topping Friday's qualifying session at Richmond
The Penske driver, who also started on the front row at the same venue in April, took advantage of a brief moment of cloud cover during the final qualifying phase to produce a fastest lap of 21.324 seconds (126.618mph).
Jeff Gordon's effort was good enough to put him alongside Keselowski on the front row, while his Hendrick Motorsports team-mate Jimmie Johnson was best of the rest.
Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano rounded out the top five.
Danica Patrick, who earned a career-best finish of sixth at Atlanta last weekend, was bumped out of the top 12 in the final moments and will start from 13th.
Tony Stewart's hopes of claiming a win and getting himself into the Chase will require him to find a way towards the front from 19th on the grid.
Neither David Ragan nor Ryan Truex made it through pre-qualifying tech inspection, relegating them to 42nd and 43rd respectively, while Clay Rogers failed to make the field.
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 21.324s | - |
2 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 21.422s | 0.098s |
3 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 21.446s | 0.122s |
4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 21.453s | 0.129s |
5 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 21.486s | 0.162s |
6 | Clint Bowyer | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 21.491s | 0.167s |
7 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 21.518s | 0.194s |
8 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 21.586s | 0.262s |
9 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 21.615s | 0.291s |
10 | Carl Edwards | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 21.658s | 0.334s |
11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 21.676s | 0.352s |
12 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 21.693s | 0.369s |
13 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 21.629s | - |
14 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 21.653s | - |
15 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 21.653s | - |
16 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 21.666s | - |
17 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 21.674s | - |
18 | Brian Vickers | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 21.688s | - |
19 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 21.700s | - |
20 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 21.706s | - |
21 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 21.713s | - |
22 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 21.720s | - |
23 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 21.726s | - |
24 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 21.727s | - |
25 | Alex Bowman | BK Racing | Toyota | 21.730s | - |
26 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 21.735s | - |
27 | Justin Allgaier | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 21.737s | - |
28 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 21.773s | - |
29 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Chevrolet | 21.794s | - |
30 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 21.812s | - |
31 | David Stremme | Circle Sport | Chevrolet | 21.824s | - |
32 | Reed Sorenson | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 21.830s | - |
33 | Marcos Ambrose | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 21.873s | - |
34 | Landon Cassill | Circle Sport | Chevrolet | 21.882s | - |
35 | Cole Whitt | Swan Racing | Toyota | 21.889s | - |
36 | Josh Wise | Phil Parsons Racing | Chevrolet | 21.903s | - |
37 | Travis Kvapil | Go FAS Racing | Ford | 21.911s | - |
38 | J.J. Yeley | BK Racing | Toyota | 21.922s | - |
39 | Mike Bliss | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 22.064s | - |
40 | Michael Annett | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 22.085s | - |
41 | Joe Nemechek | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 22.174s | - |
42 | David Ragan | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | - | - |
43 | Ryan Truex | BK Racing | Toyota | - | - |
- | Clay Rogers | Beard Motorsports | Chevrolet | 21.993s | - |
Qualifying format: 1st-12th from final qualifying, 13th-43rd from round one.
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