Starting Lineup- 09/22/2018- Race 28 of 36- SECOND PLAYOFF RACE- FEDERATED AUTO PARTS 400- @ 7:30pm- on NBCSN- @ Richmond Raceway, Richmond, VA.

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This data was obtained from Motorsport.com

 

 

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NASCAR Cup / Richmond II / Qualifying report

Kevin Harvick edges Hamlin for Richmond Cup pole

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By: Jim Utter

16h ago

 

That’s a good way for Kevin Harvick to rebound from a tough NASCAR Cup Series playoff opener.

 

Harvick saved his best in Friday’s knockout qualifying for last, posting the fastest average lap speed in the final session (121.880 mph) to claim the pole for Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway.

 

Harvick, who leads the way in the series with seven wins, started the 2018 playoffs with a wreck and 39th-place finish last weekend at Las Vegas.

The pole is Harvick’s third this season and 24th of his career.

“We didn’t do any qualifying runs in practice,” Harvick said. “After we ended our last race run, huge credit to the race team for putting the qualifying set-up underneath it.

 

“Aric (Almirola) came here and tested and (we) kind of had a baseline for where we needed to shoot for, for targets and things like that.”

Asked about his qualifying performance that saw him no better than 11th through the first two rounds, Harvick said that was "part of the game here." 

"I think we made some good adjustments on making the car better and for me just getting more confidence in how fast I could let the car roll and stay in the throttle up off the corner," he said. "In the first round we didn’t really know what we had and ran a lap less than a lot of the faster guys.”

Denny Hamlin ended up second (121.847 mph) and Martin Truex Jr. was third (121.529 mph). Ryan Blaney was fourth and Daniel Suarez, who was fastest in the first two rounds, completed the top-five.

Rounding out the Top 12 starters are Kurt Busch, Aric Almirola, Brad Keselowski, Erik Jones, Kyle Larson, Cole Custer and Kyle Busch, who won the spring race at Richmond.

Round 2

Suarez kept up the pressure, again posting the fastest average lap speed in the second round (122.928 mph).

Blaney ended up second (122.316 mph) and Custer, making just his third series start this season, was third (122.045 mph). Truex and Keselowski completed the top-five.

Also advancing to the final round were Kurt Busch, Larson, Hamlin, Jones, Almirola, Harvick and Kyle Busch.

None of the four drivers from Hendrick Motorsports were able to move out of Round 2, with Alex Bowman topping the organization at 14th-fastest.

Also missing the cut were Joey Logano, Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth and Paul Menard.

Round 1

Suarez led the way in the first round of knockout qualifying as two playoff contenders failed to advance to Round 2.

Suarez posted the fastest average lap speed (122.912 mph) in the 15-minute session. Kurt Busch was second (122.895 mph) and Keselowski third (122.722 mph). Hamlin and Kenseth rounded out the top-five.

Also in the Top 10 were Jones, Elliott, Kyle Busch, McMurray and Almirola.

Busch made contact with the wall during his final qualifying lap attempt and his No. 18 Toyota appeared to suffer minor damage.

Clint Bowyer (25th) and Austin Dillon (28th) were only drivers in the playoffs who failed to advance to the second round.

Among the others who failed to advance were Darrell Wallace Jr., A.J. Allmendinger, David Ragan and Ty Dillon, who had been fast in Friday’s practice sessions.

Reigning NASCAR Euro champion Alon Day, making his first series start on an oval, was 37th fastest.

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Take a virtual lap around Richmond Raceway, courtesy of NASCAR Heat 3, which you can order now:

Cla	#	Driver	4506	Time	Gap	Mph
1	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	22.153		121.880
2	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	22.159	0.006	121.847
3	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	22.217	0.064	121.529
4	12	Ryan Blaney	Ford	22.241	0.088	121.397
5	19	Daniel Suarez	Toyota	22.244	0.091	121.381
6	41	Kurt Busch	Ford	22.267	0.114	121.256
7	10	Aric Almirola	Ford	22.320	0.167	120.968
8	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	22.342	0.189	120.849
9	20	Erik Jones	Toyota	22.342	0.189	120.849
10	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	22.347	0.194	120.822
11	51	Cole Custer	Ford	22.360	0.207	120.751
12	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	22.390	0.237	120.590
13	22	Joey Logano	Ford	22.232	0.079	121.447
14	88	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	22.236	0.083	121.425
15	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	22.241	0.088	121.397
16	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	22.286	0.133	121.152
17	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	22.297	0.144	121.093
18	6	Matt Kenseth	Ford	22.318	0.165	120.979
19	9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	22.332	0.179	120.903
20	24	William Byron	Chevrolet	22.354	0.201	120.784
21	21	Paul Menard	Ford	22.374	0.221	120.676
22	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	22.438	0.285	120.332
23	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	22.439	0.286	120.326
24	34	Michael McDowell	Ford	22.678	0.525	119.058
25	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	22.305	0.152	121.049
26	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.	Chevrolet	22.324	0.171	120.946
27	38	David Ragan	Ford	22.326	0.173	120.935
28	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	22.348	0.195	120.816
29	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	22.355	0.202	120.778
30	47	A.J. Allmendinger	Chevrolet	22.373	0.220	120.681
31	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	22.407	0.254	120.498
32	15	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	22.416	0.263	120.450
33	95	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	22.448	0.295	120.278
34	72	Corey Lajoie	Chevrolet	22.578	0.425	119.585
35	96	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Toyota	22.601	0.448	119.464
36	52	Gray Gaulding	Ford	22.932	0.779	117.739
37	23	Alon Day	Toyota	22.954	0.801	117.627
38	00	Joey Gase	Chevrolet	22.960	0.807	117.596
39	99	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	23.066	0.913	117.055
40	66	Timmy Hill	Toyota	23.079	0.926	116.989