Kevin Harvick’s fastest time in practice has seen him earn pole position at Richmond after qualifying was rained out.
With rain threatening, all teams put an extra effort into Friday morning’s opening practice with Harvick quickest from Joey Logano.
Although Harvick is the points leader, his qualifying average of 11th in the time trials has seen him have to work to the front in the races.
“We had decided to come into the weekend and approach qualifying a little bit different, with just the way the race tracks have been and the timing of the practices,” said Harvick.
“We decided to go and take advantage of being the first car on the race track, which is usually a big advantage here when the track is green and doesn’t have a lot of rubber on it.
“It worked out today. It’s going to be interesting just for the fact that, the second and third times out, the times weren’t near what the first time was because the tyres fall off — which is great.”
Tony Stewart, who is making his return to the Sprint Cup after injury, will start from 18th.
Cole Whitt failed to make the 40-car field as he was slowest of the cars that needed to qualify on time in the practice session.
QUALIFYING: Toyota Owners 400 – Richmond International Raceway
| POS. | CAR # | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | MPH | TIME | GAP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Kevin Harvick |  |
Busch Light | 129.069 | 20.919 | Leader |
| 2 | 22 | Joey Logano |  |
Shell Penzoil | 128.694 | 20.980 | –0.061 |
| 3 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | |
LOWE’S PRO SERVICES | 128.187 | 21.063 | –0.144 |
| 4 | 19 | Carl Edwards |  |
XFINITY | 128.181 | 21.064 | –0.145 |
| 5 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | |
FedEx Ground | 128.156 | 21.068 | –0.149 |
| 6 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | |
Thomas Built Buses | 128.011 | 21.092 | –0.173 |
| 7 | 41 | Kurt Busch | |
Monster Energy / Haas Automation | 127.799 | 21.127 | –0.208 |
| 8 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | |
Mountain Dew | 127.334 | 21.204 | –0.285 |
| 9 | 18 | Kyle Busch | |
Banfield | 127.298 | 21.210 | –0.291 |
| 10 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | |
Kroger/Bush’s Beans | 127.220 | 21.223 | –0.304 |
| 11 | 3 | Austin Dillon | |
AAA | 127.208 | 21.225 | –0.306 |
| 12 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | |
Fifth Third Bank Ford Fusion | 125.517 | 21.511 | –0.592 |
| 13 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | |
Dollar General | 125.307 | 21.547 | –0.628 |
| 14 | 31 | Ryan Newman | |
Grainger | 124.913 | 21.615 | –0.696 |
| 15 | 42 | Kyle Larson | |
Target | 124.861 | 21.624 | –0.705 |
| 16 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | |
Advocare Ford Fusion | 124.775 | 21.639 | –0.720 |
| 17 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | |
Mountain Dew | 124.775 | 21.639 | –0.720 |
| 18 | 14 | Tony Stewart | |
Mobil 1 Advanced Fuel Economy | 124.700 | 21.652 | –0.733 |
| 19 | 16 | Greg Biffle | |
Cheez-It Ford Fusion | 124.527 | 21.682 | –0.763 |
| 20 | 44 | Brian Scott | |
Albertsons Co. / Shore Lodge | 124.516 | 21.684 | –0.765 |
| 21 | 10 | Danica Patrick | |
Nature’s Bakery | 124.487 | 21.689 | –0.770 |
| 22 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | |
Furniture Row | 124.481 | 21.690 | –0.771 |
| 23 | 24 | Chase Elliott | |
Mountain Dew | 124.464 | 21.693 | –0.774 |
| 24 | 43 | Aric Almirola | |
Smithfield | 124.064 | 21.763 | –0.844 |
| 25 | 13 | Casey Mears | |
GEICO | 123.734 | 21.821 | –0.902 |
| 26 | 27 | Paul Menard | |
Duracell / Menards | 123.598 | 21.845 | –0.926 |
| 27 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | |
Credit One Bank | 123.553 | 21.853 | –0.934 |
| 28 | 38 | Landon Cassill | |
The Pete Store | 123.125 | 21.929 | –1.010 |
| 29 | *21 | Ryan Blaney | |
Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire + Auto Center | 122.566 | 22.029 | –1.110 |
| 30 | 23 | David Ragan | |
sweetFrog | 122.266 | 22.083 | –1.164 |
| 31 | *30 | Josh Wise | |
Curtis Key Plumbing | 121.995 | 22.132 | –1.213 |
| 32 | 95 | Michael McDowell | |
WRL General Contractors | 121.990 | 22.133 | –1.214 |
| 33 | 34 | Chris Buescher | |
A&W All American Food | 121.891 | 22.151 | –1.232 |
| 34 | 7 | Regan Smith | |
APC Chrevrolet | 121.496 | 22.223 | –1.304 |
| 35 | *55 | Reed Sorenson | |
ChampionMachinery.com | 121.250 | 22.268 | –1.349 |
| 36 | 83 | Matt DiBenedetto | |
E.J. Wade Construction | 121.131 | 22.290 | –1.371 |
| 37 | *93 | Ryan Ellis | |
ScienceLogic | 120.182 | 22.466 | –1.547 |
| 38 | *98 | Cole Whitt | |
TBA | 119.660 | 22.564 | –1.645 |
| 39 | 32 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | |
CorvetteParts.net | 119.458 | 22.602 | –1.683 |
| 40 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | |
5-Hour Energy | 117.842 | 22.912 | –1.993 |
| 41 | 46 | Michael Annett | |
Pilot Flying J | 0.000 | 0.000 | -20.919 |
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