Ryan Blaney qualifies 1st at Richmond for 2nd consecutive NASCAR pole position

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Ryan Blaney can’t fully explain his recent dominance in NASCAR qualifying, but he attributed Mother Nature with an assist Friday at Richmond Raceway.

The Team Penske driver captured his third pole position in the past five races and the 16th of his Cup Series career, turning a lap in 22.225 seconds (121.485 mph) around the 0.75-mile oval. Blaney was the second-to-last driver to make an attempt, and a cloud late in the session cooled the track for better grip and faster speeds.

“I appreciate the cloud,” said Blaney, who also qualified first last week at Iowa Speedway and last month at EchoPark Speedway. “I got the benefit.”

With 12 races remaining after Saturday’s 400-lap event at Richmond, Blaney already has a career-best four pole positions for a single season and is tied with points leader Denny Hamlin for the series lead in 2026.

“I wouldn’t specify myself as a very good qualifier,” Blaney said. “For a little bit I struggled in qualifying, just not really able to find the one-lap speed and kind of doing the wrong things behind the wheel. But I think (crew chief) Jonathan (Hassler) and I have just worked through how we can get better and adjust from the end of practice to the start of qualifying. It’s been fun to work through that.”

Chase Briscoe qualified second, followed by Josh Berry, Ty Gibbs and William Byron.

Denny Hamlin, the Virginia driver who has five wins at Richmond, qualified 14th. The points leader is the most recent winner from the pole at Richmond in 2016.

Blaney is cautiously optimistic that his qualifying speed will transfer to the race at Richmond, where the the pace drops sharply as tires wear.

“With the tire falloff being so vast, one lap is so much different here than a 50- to 70-lap run,” Blaney said. “I’ve been on the side of qualifying really well here and just tanked in the race, But I feel like in practice, my long-run pace was pretty good. The ebbs and flows here, a lot of comers and goers, that’s the beauty of this place.”

Tyler Reddick qualified 32nd after spinning in practice. It’s the worst starting spot since March 2023 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the 23XI Racing driver, who has finished 25th or worse in six of the past nine races while falling from first to fourth in the points standings.

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing