By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service
RICHMOND, Va. – With rain threatening to fall at Richmond International Raceway, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers put extra effort into Friday morning’s opening practice.
The effort paid off for 2014 series champion Kevin Harvick, who was fastest in practice at 129.089 mph and consequently will start on the pole in Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at the .75-mile short track (1 p.m. ET on FOX).
With the field ordered by practice speeds according to the Sprint Cup rule book, Joey Logano (128.694 mph) will start second, followed by Jimmie Johnson (128.187 mph), Carl Edwards (128.181 mph) and Denny Hamlin (128.156 mph).
Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch and AJ Allmendinger filled positions six through 10 on the grid, respectively.
Coming to Richmond with an average starting position of 11.1 through the first eight Sprint Cup races this season, and knowing rain was likely in the afternoon, Harvick and crew chief Rodney Childers developed a game plan based on Harvick’s right to be first on track for practice as the current series leader.
“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,” Harvick said. “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, and Rodney and everybody had a good plan, and 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 tires fall off – which is great.”
Logano’s team executed its plan to near-perfection.
“I feel like my team did a great job understanding the weather today before we hit the race track,” Logano said. “We went out there and made our qualifying run off the truck and then focused in on race trim, thinking that we weren’t going to be qualifying anyway. The plan was executed perfectly besides (being) second instead of first…
“It is important to start up front here. A lot of times you think about how this race runs, and it’s similar to Martinsville, and having track position allows you to be more conservative with your car and tires. If you’re are in the back you don’t have the opportunity to save anything. It is nice to start towards the front and get a good pit stall and hit this race hard and see what happens.”
Note: Cole Whitt failed to make the 40-car field because his No. 98 Chevrolet posted the slowest practice speed among cars required to qualify on time.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Qualifying – Toyota Owners 400
1. (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, Charter Team – 129.069 mph.
2. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, Charter Team – 128.694 mph.
3. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, Charter Team – 128.187 mph.
4. (19) Carl Edwards, Toyota, Charter Team – 128.181 mph.
5. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, Charter Team – 128.156 mph.
6. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, Charter Team – 128.011 mph.
7. (41) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, Charter Team – 127.799 mph.
8. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, Charter Team – 127.334 mph.
9. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, Charter Team – 127.298 mph.
10. (47) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, Charter Team – 127.220 mph.
11. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, Charter Team – 127.208 mph.
12. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, Charter Team – 125.517 mph.
13. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, Charter Team – 125.307 mph.
14. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, Charter Team – 124.913 mph.
15. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, Charter Team – 124.861 mph.
16. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, Charter Team – 124.775 mph.
17. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford, Charter Team – 124.775 mph.
18. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, Charter Team – 124.700 mph.
19. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, Charter Team – 124.527 mph.
20. (44) Brian Scott #, Ford, Charter Team – 124.516 mph.
21. (10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, Charter Team – 124.487 mph.
22. (78) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, Charter Team – 124.481 mph.
23. (24) Chase Elliott #, Chevrolet, Charter Team – 124.464 mph.
24. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, Charter Team – 124.064 mph.
25. (13) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, Charter Team – 123.734 mph.
26. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, Charter Team – 123.598 mph.
27. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, Charter Team – 123.553 mph.
28. (38) Landon Cassill, Ford, Charter Team – 123.125 mph.
29. (21) * Ryan Blaney #, Ford, Open Team – 122.566 mph.
30. (23) David Ragan, Toyota, Charter Team – 122.266 mph.
31. (30) * Josh Wise, Chevrolet, Open Team – 121.995 mph.
32. (95) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, Charter Team – 121.990 mph.
33. (34) Chris Buescher #, Ford, Charter Team – 121.891 mph.
34. (7) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, Charter Team – 121.496 mph.
35. (55) * Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, Open Team – 121.250 mph.
36. (83) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, Charter Team – 121.131 mph.
37. (93) * Ryan Ellis(i), Toyota, Open Team – 120.182 mph.
38. (32) Jeffrey Earnhardt #, Ford, Charter Team – 119.458 mph.
39. (15) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, Charter Team – 117.842 mph.
40. (46) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, Charter Team – 0.000 mph.
Image: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images
