Matt Kenseth has claimed the fastest time in qualifying for the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond, Virginia.
Kenseth completed a Joe Gibbs Racing shut-out, turning a 20.716s lap with Brian Vickers, standing in for the injured Denny Hamlin, second in 20.721.
The pole lap came two days after NASCAR imposed heavy penalties on Kenseth and his crew chief for irregularities with his engine following his Kansas win last weekend.
At Richmond Kenseth responded in the best way possible with JGR claiming the fastest two spots ahead of Hendrick driver Jeff Gordon (20.729s) with his team-mate Kasey Kahne starting beside him in fourth.
Richard Petty Motorsports driver Marcos Ambrose had a decent qualifying run to turn 20.839s and will start from 11th place.
“It was pretty good. I left a little bit out there,” Ambrose said.
“All these guys are gonna get much better track conditions than what we had. We had a big pick-up from practice and that’s all I can ask from my DeWalt team. I’m pretty happy with how our car feels as the sun comes off the racetrack so hopefully tomorrow night we will be just fine.”
QUALIFYING – Richmond Toyota Owners 400
| Pos | Driver | Team/Car | Time | Gap |
| 1 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Toyota | 20.716s | |
| 2 | Brian Vickers | Joe Gibbs Toyota | 20.721s | + 0.005s |
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Chevrolet | 20.729s | + 0.013s |
| 4 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Chevrolet | 20.740s | + 0.024s |
| 5 | Clint Bowyer | Waltrip Toyota | 20.744s | + 0.028s |
| 6 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet | 20.793s | + 0.077s |
| 7 | Joey Logano | Penkse Ford | 20.808s | + 0.092s |
| 8 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Toyota | 20.828s | + 0.112s |
| 9 | Martin Truex jr | Waltrip Toyota | 20.834s | + 0.118s |
| 10 | Mark Martin | Waltrip Toyota | 20.837s | + 0.121s |
| 11 | Marcos Ambrose | Petty Ford | 20.839s | + 0.123s |
| 12 | Ricky Stenhouse jr | Roush Fenway Ford | 20.841s | + 0.125s |
| 13 | Jamie McMurray | Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet | 20.844s | + 0.128s |
| 14 | Kurt Busch | Furniture Row Chevrolet | 20.862s | + 0.146s |
| 15 | Ryan Newman | Stewart-Haas Chevrolet | 20.868s | + 0.152s |
| 16 | Jeff Burton | Childress Chevrolet | 20.870s | + 0.154s |
| 17 | Kevin Harvick | Childress Chevrolet | 20.871s | + 0.155s |
| 18 | Dave Blaney | Baldwin Chevrolet | 20.883s | + 0.167s |
| 19 | Dale Earnhardt jr | Hendrick Chevrolet | 20.900s | + 0.184s |
| 20 | David Ragan | Front Row Ford | 20.904s | + 0.188s |
| 21 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Chevrolet | 20.912s | + 0.196s |
| 22 | David Reutimann | BK Toyota | 20.912s | + 0.196s |
| 23 | Brad Keselowski | Penske Ford | 20.925s | + 0.209s |
| 24 | AJ Allmendinger | Phoenix Chevrolet | 20.944s | + 0.228s |
| 25 | David Stremme | Swan Toyota | 20.961s | + 0.245s |
| 26 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Chevrolet | 20.966s | + 0.250s |
| 27 | Josh Wise | Front Row Ford | 20.972s | + 0.256s |
| 28 | Carl Edwards | Roush Fenway Ford | 20.975s | + 0.259s |
| 29 | Paul Menard | Childress Chevrolet | 20.976s | + 0.260s |
| 30 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Chevrolet | 20.979s | + 0.263s |
| 31 | Landon Cassill | Circle Sport Chevrolet | 20.982s | + 0.266s |
| 32 | Bobby Labonte | JTG Daugherty Toyota | 20.994s | + 0.278s |
| 33 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Ford | 21.009s | + 0.293s |
| 34 | Aric Almirola | Petty Ford | 21.036s | + 0.320s |
| 35 | Michael McDowell | Parsons Ford | 21.085s | + 0.369s |
| 36 | Travis Kvapil | BK Toyota | 21.101s | + 0.385s |
| 37 | David Gilliland | Front Row Ford | 21.113s | + 0.397s |
| 38 | Mike Bliss | Humphrey Smith Toyota | 21.179s | + 0.463s |
| 39 | JJ Yeley | Baldwin Chevrolet | 21.336s | + 0.620s |
| 40 | Casey Mears | Germain Ford | 21.360s | + 0.644s |
| 41 | Joe Nemechek | NEMCO-JRR Toyota | 21.448s | + 0.732s |
| 42 | Timmy Hill | FAS Lane Ford | 21.481s | + 0.765s |
| 43 | Brian Keselowski | Keselowski Toyota | 21.818s | + 1.102s |
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