Coming off a win last Saturday night in Atlanta, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. brought the momentum from his win to Richmond International Raceway this weekend.
Being the 46th of the 47 cars to take time during the session, Stenhouse Jr. was able to beat out Austin Dillon for the pole for tonight’s Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway.
Stenhouse Jr.’s lap of 122.822 mph was good enough to claim his fourth pole of the 2012 season and the eighth pole of his Nationwide Series career.
“Any time you can start on the pole in any race it’s always a benefit,” said Stenhouse Jr. following his qualifying lap. “Having the first pit stall is a big benefit for the guys, so everything is good.
“First time we were in qualifying trim all day and didn’t know what to expect but it all worked out and glad to be starting on the pole.”
With four wins already in the 2012 season to his credit which includes a win at the 7/8-mile Iowa (Newton) Speedway, a track that many compare to RIR.
Even with success at a similar track, Stenhouse Jr. has never visited RIR’s victory lane.
“All in all, it’s pretty similar. I feel like our car was pretty good in race trim, I wasn’t sure about the qualifying run, but we were good in race trim and that’s what’s going to pay off tonight.”
After posting the fastest time in the one and only practice session, Travis Pastrana was able to salvage a fifth place qualifying effort in his first start for Roush Fenway Racing after a rough go on his first lap.
With 47 cars attempting to make the 43 car field, four drivers failed to qualify for the race.
David Starr, Joey Gase, Morgan Shepard, and Mike Harmon were the four drivers not to make the field on speed.
Virginia 529 College Savings 250 Staring Lineup:
1: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2: Austin Dillon
3: Kevin Harvick
4: Sam Hornish Jr.
5: Travis Pastrana
6: Denny Hamlin
7: Brian Scott
8: Johanna Long
9: Mike Bliss
10: Justin Allgaier
11: Ty Dillon
12: Elliott Sadler
13: Michael Annett
14: Joe Nemechek
15: James Buescher
16: Chase Miller
17: Kurt Busch
18: Jeff Green
19: Cole Whitt
20: Darrell Wallace Jr.
21: Jason Bowles
22: Jeremy Clements
23: Brad Sweet
24: Danica Patrick
25: JJ Yeley
26: Paulie Harraka
27: Ryan Blaney
28: Erik Darnell
29: Josh Wise
30: Tayler Malsam
31: Mike Wallace
32: Timmy Hill
33: Ryan Truex
34: Tanner Berryhill
35: Kevin Lepage
36: Matt Carter
37: Scott Riggs
38: Carl Long
39: Blake Koch
40: Robert Richardson Jr.
41: Dexter Stacey
42: Eric McClure
43: David White
