RICHMOND, Va. — For the second consecutive week, Ryan Blaney will start on pole for a NASCAR Cup Series race, as he captured the top spot for Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway.
Blaney saved his tires on his Team Penske Ford by only running one lap in the first round, which proved to be the difference as he wound up with 22.541-second lap and his first career pole at the D-shaped three-quarter-mile track.
The 28-year-old narrowly edged William Byron’s Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet by .037 seconds. Byron was the only Hendrick driver to advance to the final round of qualifying.
“It means a lot, honestly I didn’t think I got a very good lap, I thought it was kind of an ugly lap on my end, but it had enough speed,” Blaney said. “Track position is a lot here, especially (with) my past history here, I need all the track position I can get. Good start to the weekend, just got to keep it up, and keep (the) tires under it, that’s the biggest thing, we’ll see what tomorrow holds, and it should be fun.”
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch was third in a Toyota, followed by Ford’s Chase Briscoe and Erik Jones in another Chevrolet.