Matt Kenseth welcomed new sponsor Circle K to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series by winning the pole Friday at Richmond International Raceway.
In the first of six races with Circle K on the car, Kenseth will lead the field to the green flag in the Toyota Owners 400 after putting down a lap of 121.076mph in qualifying. It is Kenseth’s second pole at Richmond in his 35th start, his first pole this season and the 19th of his career.
“You got to ask [crew chief Jason Ratliff],” Kenseth said of putting down his fastest lap of qualifying in the third round. “Those guys did a really good job; we adjusted between rounds. We had enough speed in our Circle K Camry we only had to do one lap each of the first two rounds to get us into the third round.
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“We improved a little bit in the second lap. So, it was a good qualifying effort for us.”
Ryan Blaney will start alongside Kenseth on the front row. Blaney put down a lap of 120.854mph to earn the second starting spot for the third time in nine races.
The top 10 in qualifying were Kenseth, Blaney, Martin Truex Jr. (120.681mph), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (120.471mph), Joey Logano (120.380mph), Kevin Harvick (120.326mph), Kyle Busch (120.171mph), Clint Bowyer (120.144mph), Kurt Busch (120.027mph), and Jamie McMurray (119.691mph).
Logano was fastest in the first two rounds of qualifying, and the Team Penske driver will make his 300th start Sunday.
Virginia native and three-time Richmond winner Denny Hamlin will start 16th. Jimmie Johnson will seek his third consecutive win from the 17th starting position.
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