Richmond Raceway: Starting Lineup – MENCS (April 2018)

Round 1

15 minutes in round 1, the top 24 advance to round 2.

10 minutes remain, no cars has turned a lap just yet. Denny Hamlin ran a coaster lap, just to wear off the shine on the sticker set of Goodyear tires. The sun is setting over the speedway. The cooler the track is, the faster it is.

7 minutes remain in round 1, Gray Gaulding is the first car to turn a lap. Cassill, Rhodes and Harvick are all on the track. Harvick to the top of the board with a 21.878.

5 minutes remain, Truex to the top.

Jimmie Johnson has cleared NASCAR inspection. He’s in the car and getting ready to turn a lap at the last second.

2 minutes remain, Kyle Busch is on the track. He’s 22nd on the board. Busch is bumped. Kyle Busch is 31st with 30 seconds remaining, he’s climbing from his car. Busch will not transfer from round 1.

Martin Truex Jr wins round 1 in knocked qualifying at Richmond Raceway.

Busch Busch only run two laps. With the tire at Richmond, longer runs pay off. Most drivers ran more than 2 laps as each lap goes a little faster.

“We were trying to shortcut it a little bit. It just didn’t work out for us,” Kyle Busch tells FS1.

Kyle Larson is an anomaly. He’s so fast that he only needed 1 lap in round 1.

Round 1 Results: 1. Martin Truex Jr (21.752); 2. William Byron (21.793); 3. Jimmie Johnson (21.807); 4. Denny Hamlin; 5. Clint Bowyer; 6. Joey Logano; 7. Erik Jones; 8. Trevor Bayne; 9. Jamie McMurray; 10. Kyle Larson; 11. David Ragan; 12. Kevin Harvick;

Round 2

10 minutes in round 2, the top 12 will advance to the final round.

8 minutes remain, Kurt Busch is the first and the lone car on the race track. He circles the 0.75-mile oval at 21.807 seconds. Kevin Harvick follows Busch.

6 minutes remain, the track is getting busy. Hamlin, Truex, Stenhouse, Logano and Bowyer are all on the track. Hamlin shoots to the top of the board. Hamlin had all kinds of issues in final practice, it appears those bugs are worked out.

4 minutes remain, Chase Elliott was tracking in the green. However, he lost is all off the exit of turn 4.

2 minutes remain, Larson is 11th! Blaney is 13th as Erik Jones holds the final transfer position.

Denny Hamlin wins round 2!

Round 2 Results: 1. Denny Hamlin (21.691); 2. Chase Elliott (21.698); 3. Joey Logano (21.717); 4. Martin Truex Jr; 5. Jamie McMurray; 6. Kurt Busch; 7. Ricky Stenhouse Jr; 8. Alex Bowman; 9. William Byron; 10. Kevin Harvick; 11. Kyle Larson; 12. Erik Jones;

Round 3

It’s a 5 minute run for the pole. Just 12 cars remain in the final round.

Truex isn’t waisting any time to get on the track. He’s first out, he runs multiple laps with a best time of 21.799.

2 minutes remain, Hamlin is 2nd on his first lap.

1 minute remains, Elliott is 2nd on his second lap. He’s going to make a 3rd lap, he doesn’t improve.

Martin Truex Jr will start from the pole at Richmond Raceway!

View the full Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starting lineup below.

Richmond Raceway
Qualifying Results
April 20, 2018

Pos | Driver | Time

1. Martin Truex Jr
21.799

2. Chase Elliott
21.841

3. Joey Logano
21.848

4. Denny Hamlin
21.855

5. Kyle Larson
21.912

6. Kurt Busch
21.969

7. Erik Jones
21.974

8. Jamie McMurray
21.982

9. William Byron
21.985

10. Kevin Harvick
21.986

11. Alex Bowman
21.999

12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
22.059

13. Ryan Blaney
21.940

14. Ryan Newman
21.978

15. David Ragan
21.978

16. Clint Bowyer
21.979

17. Jimmie Johnson
21.990

18. Darrell Wallace Jr
21.991

19. Chris Buescher
22.034

20. Paul Menard
22.039

21. Trevor Bayne
22.052

22. Daniel Hemric
22.061

23. Austin Dillon
22.067

24. Michael McDowell
22.091

25. Aric Almirola
21.957

26. Daniel Suarez
21.963

27. Matt DiBenedetto
21.992

28. Brad Keselowski
22.001

29. Kasey Kahne
22.007

30. Ross Chastain
22.015

31. Ty Dillon
22.063

32. Kyle Busch
22.069

33. AJ Allmendinger
22.083

34. Gray Gaulding
22.194

35. Cole Whitt
22.236

36. Landon Cassill
22.314

37. Reed Sorenson
22.548

38. Harrison Rhodes
22.555

Links

Richmond Raceway | NASCAR