Dale Earnhardt Jr will start from pole for tomorrow’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway.
Earnhardt Jr will head the field in the final race of the regular season, with NASCAR’s ‘Chase’ to commence at the next event.
Earnhardt’s Henricks Motorsport team-mate Jeff Gordon – one of the drivers who needs to win to make the Chase – will start in second place.
Gordon’s starting position has put him in position for a last-ditch attempt to qualify for the Chase. Gordon can dislodge Kurt Busch from the second provisional wildcard position by winning the race (if Tony Stewart remains in the top 10 in the standings) or by beating Busch by more than 12 points, if no wildcard contender with one victory wins on Saturday night.
Busch posted the 15th fastest time and will start the race 13 positions – the equivalent of 13 points – behind Gordon, setting up a dramatic shootout for the final wild-card spot.
Australian Marcos Ambrose is also in contention for a spot in the Chase, thanks to his Watkins Glen win. He will have to start the 400 mile event from 22nd.
Joey Logano and Ryan Newman also have one win a piece this year and will start eighth and 14th respectively.
Two other drivers who are winless this season but still have a remote chance to make the Chase are Carl Edwards (16th) and Paul Menard (27th).
Pole-sitter Earnhardt has already has qualified for the Chase, but this was his first pole position for 2012.
“We’ve been working the last two years to improve … and this year we made some gains,” Earnhardt said.
“It feels good to get a pole position and know that we’re doing something right there.
“It gives us a good starting spot for [Saturday]. We feel pretty confident about the car after practice [Friday], and starting up front is an advantage. I’m happy that we’re performing well and look forward to the race.”
Regan Smith will start third from Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Denny Hamlin, Logano, Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski.
Starting line-up, Richmond
| POS | CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | SPEED | TIME | BEHIND |
| 1 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | Diet Mountain Dew / National Guard | 127.023 | 21.256 | Leader |
| 2 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Drive to End Hunger | 126.981 | 21.263 | -0.007 |
| 3 | 78 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row / Farm American | 126.910 | 21.275 | -0.019 |
| 4 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 5-hour Energy | 126.808 | 21.292 | -0.036 |
| 5 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe’s | 126.790 | 21.295 | -0.039 |
| 6 | 55 | Mark Martin | Toyota | Aaron’s Dream Machine | 126.784 | 21.296 | -0.040 |
| 7 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Express | 126.671 | 21.315 | -0.059 |
| 8 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 126.600 | 21.327 | -0.071 |
| 9 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 126.553 | 21.335 | -0.079 |
| 10 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Miller Lite | 126.547 | 21.336 | -0.080 |
| 11 | 22 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | Shell / Pennzoil | 126.410 | 21.359 | -0.103 |
| 12 | 83 | Landon Cassill | Toyota | Burger King | 126.139 | 21.405 | -0.149 |
| 13 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Budweiser | 126.080 | 21.415 | -0.159 |
| 14 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | Quicken Loans | 126.074 | 21.416 | -0.160 |
| 15 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | M&M’s | 126.033 | 21.423 | -0.167 |
| 16 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Kellogg’s | 126.033 | 21.423 | -0.167 |
| 17 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Best Buy | 125.974 | 21.433 | -0.177 |
| 18 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | Smithfield | 125.939 | 21.439 | -0.183 |
| 19 | 98 | Michael McDowell | Ford | Phil Parsons Racing | 125.880 | 21.449 | -0.193 |
| 20 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Caterpillar | 125.845 | 21.455 | -0.199 |
| 21 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | Quaker State | 125.722 | 21.476 | -0.220 |
| 22 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Mac Tools | 125.692 | 21.481 | -0.225 |
| 23 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M / Owens & Minor | 125.599 | 21.497 | -0.241 |
| 24 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target | 125.546 | 21.506 | -0.250 |
| 25 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Menards / Moen | 125.511 | 21.512 | -0.256 |
| 26 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops / Allstate | 125.389 | 21.533 | -0.277 |
| 27 | 34 | David Ragan | Ford | Taco Bell | 125.389 | 21.533 | -0.277 |
| 28 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Office Depot / Mobil 1 | 125.371 | 21.536 | -0.280 |
| 29 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | Bush’s Baked Beans | 125.342 | 21.541 | -0.285 |
| 30 | 51 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | Phoenix Construction | 125.226 | 21.561 | -0.305 |
| 31 | 30 | David Stremme | Toyota | Inception Motorsports | 125.052 | 21.591 | -0.335 |
| 32 | 93 | Travis Kvapil | Toyota | Burger King / Dr Pepper | 124.988 | 21.602 | -0.346 |
| 33 | 36 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | Tommy Baldwin Racing | 124.890 | 21.619 | -0.363 |
| 34 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves | 124.879 | 21.621 | -0.365 |
| 35 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | Mossy Oak / Pursuit Channel | 124.746 | 21.644 | -0.388 |
| 36 | 33 | Stephen Leicht* | Chevrolet | Special Ops OPSEC | 124.723 | 21.648 | -0.392 |
| 37 | 10 | David Reutimann | Chevrolet | Inc. 5000 / @TMone 6-peat | 124.706 | 21.651 | -0.395 |
| 38 | 23 | Scott Riggs | Chevrolet | North Texas Pipe | 124.539 | 21.680 | -0.424 |
| 39 | 32 | Ken Schrader | Ford | Federated Auto Parts | 124.407 | 21.703 | -0.447 |
| 40 | 119 | Mike Bliss | Toyota | Plinker Tactical | 124.315 | 21.719 | -0.463 |
| 41 | 26 | Josh Wise* | Ford | MDS Transport | 124.161 | 21.746 | -0.490 |
| 42 | 13 | Casey Mears | Ford | GEICO | 124.087 | 21.759 | -0.503 |
| 43 | 191 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | Plinker Tactical | 123.779 | 21.813 | -0.557 |
| Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| 44 | 37 | J.J. Yeley | Chevrolet | Max Q Workforce | 123.468 | 21.868 | -0.612 |
| 45 | 0 | Mark Green | Toyota | Blue Ox | 120.962 | 22.321 | -1.065 |
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