The 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick will start on pole position for the upcoming Cup Playoff race at Richmond Raceway, the Federated Auto Parts 400, on Saturday, September 12.
Harvick, who won last Sunday’s first Playoff race of this season at Darlington Raceway and has punched his ticket to the second round of the Playoffs, was awarded the pole position based on four statistical categories: current owner points standings, the driver’s results, the owner’s results and the fastest lap time from a previous Cup race. This Saturday will mark the fourth time this season, third in the previous six races, where Harvick will start in first place and lead the field to the start of a Cup Series race.
Joey Logano, who finished in third place last Sunday at Darlington, will start alongside Harvick on the front row for Saturday’s race at Richmond while Austin Dillon, who earned a strong runner-up finish at Darlington, will start in third place. Alex Bowman and William Byron, teammates at Hendrick Motorsports, will start fourth and fifth followed by Kyle Busch, a six-time Richmond winner who has yet to record his first victory of this season.
Denny Hamlin, Busch’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing and a three-time Richmond winner, will start in seventh place followed by Kurt Busch, Brad Keselowski and Aric Almirola. Clint Bowyer, a two-time Richmond winner, will start in 11th place followed by Chase Elliott, Cole Custer, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney and Matt DiBenedetto.
Erik Jones will start in 17th place and as the highest-starting non-title contender followed by Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Michael McDowell.
Starting in positions 21-29 are Ryan Newman, Tyler Reddick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Preece, Chris Buescher, Christopher Bell, Ty Dillon, Daniel Suarez and Brennan Poole.
Starting in positions 30-38 are Bubba Wallace, John Hunter Nemechek, J.J. Yeley, Quin Houff, Corey LaJoie, Reed Sorenson, Joey Gase, Timmy Hill and James Davison.
The second NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race of this season at Richmond Raceway will occur on September 12 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
