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NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400: Qualifying, Ryan Preece’s Pole Position, Lineup At Richmond Raceway

Jeff Hawkins Written by Sports EditorJeff Hawkins
Updated –
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NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400: Qualifying, Ryan Preece’s Pole Position, Lineup At Richmond Raceway

Entering Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Richmond Raceway, driver Ryan Preece sits one spot below the cutoff line, 34 points behind No. 16-ranked Chris Buescher. 

Preece set himself up for a run at the Cook Out 400 title by earning the pole position following a hot qualifying lap of 121.381 mph Friday. It was his second career pole and first since Martinsville in 2023. For RFK Racing, the qualifying win was the organization’s first since September 2022 at Texas, a span of 103 races. 

Tyler Reddick (120.908 mph) will start on the outside of the front row. 

Kyle Busch (118.172) posted the fastest practice lap.  

Josh Berry Looks For Richmond Comfort

After competing at four road-course venues over the past nine events, Josh Berry remained eager to return to Richmond, a venue similar to the short tracks the Henderson, Tennessee, native learned to race on as a youth.

“Richmond is always a lot of fun and definitely one of my favorites,” Berry said per press release.

With two regular-season races remaining, Berry, who placed P35 at Watkins Glens last Sunday, aims to build postseason momentum at a comfortable track.

“It reminds me of a lot of the short-track racing I did years ago, so I’m excited to get back there.”

Starting Lineup for NASCAR Cup Series’ Cook Out 400

Here is a look at the lineup for Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series’ Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway:

Starting Position, Driver, Car No.

  • 1, Ryan Preece, No. 60 Ford
  • 2, Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Toyota
  • 3, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Chevrolet
  • 4, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota
  • 5, Chase Elliott, No. 9 Chevrolet
  • 6, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Ford
  • 7, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Toyota
  • 8, Christopher Bell, No. 20 Toyota
  • 9, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Chevrolet
  • 10, Michael McDowell, No. 71 Chevrolet
  • 11, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet
  • 12, Chris Buescher No. 17 Ford
  • 13, Austin Cindric, No. 2 Ford
  • 14, William Byron, No. 24 Chevrolet
  • 15, Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Chevrolet
  • 16, Ty Dillon, No. 10 Chevrolet
  • 17, Josh Berry, No. 21 Ford
  • 18, Erik Jones, No. 43 Toyota
  • 19, Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Toyota
  • 20, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Ford
  • 21, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Chevrolet
  • 22, Noah Gragson, No. 4 Ford
  • 23, Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Toyota
  • 24, Cole Custer, No. 41 Ford
  • 25, Justin Haley, No. 7 Chevrolet
  • 26, Riley Herbst, No. 35 Toyota
  • 27, Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Chevrolet
  • 28, Kyle Busch, No. 8 Chevrolet
  • 29, Zane Smith, No. 38 Ford
  • 30, Kyle Larson, No. 5 Chevrolet
  • 31, Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Ford
  • 32, Corey Heim, No. 67 Toyota
  • 33, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Chevrolet
  • 34, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Toyota
  • 35, Jesse Love, No. 33 Chevrolet
  • 36, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Chevrolet
  • 37, Cody Ware, No. 51 Ford
  • 38, Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford

Jeff Hawkins Written by Sports EditorJeff Hawkins
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry, in both print and digital media. He joined the Sportscasting team in 2021 following a decade of freelancing. He spent his early career as a reporter for various newspapers in Illinois, New York, Florida, North Carolina, and Michigan, with a particular emphasis as a beat reporter for the Chicago Blackhawks. Jeff earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from Oakland University. Over the course of his career he earned several sports writing awards, including two national awards from the Associated Press Sports Editors for column writing and news reporting. One of the five prized columns included a commentary on NASCAR's increasing corporate influences, particularly in northern racetracks — commentary which you might find Jeff building on as part of the Motorsports writing team at Sportscasting now.  
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