Richmond NASCAR: Matt Kenseth leads all-Joe Gibbs front row
Joe Gibbs Racing responded to a week of bad penalty and injury news by taking a front row sweep for Saturday night's Richmond NASCAR Sprint Cup race
Matt Kenseth claimed the pole position with a track record lap of 20.716 seconds.
He won at Kansas Speedway last week, but was heavily penalised for an engine irregularity after the race. The team is appealing.
Gibbs' second blow of the week was confirmation that the injured Denny Hamlin would not be fit for the early return he had hoped to make at Richmond.
But Hamlin's stand-in Brian Vickers demonstrated his pace in qualifying by taking second, 0.005s down on Kenseth.
The all-Joe Gibbs Toyota front row is followed by an all-Hendrick Chevrolet row two, on which Jeff Gordon leads Kasey Kahne.
Having been rapid in practice and been one of the few frontrunners to draw a favourable late position in the qualifying running order, Gordon was strongly tipped for pole. Ultimately he was 0.013s down on Kenseth.
Early provisional polesitter Clint Bowyer ended up fifth, ahead of an improved performance from Juan Pablo Montoya in sixth.
Championship leader Jimmie Johnson could only manage 26th place.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Toyota 20.716s 2. Brian Vickers Joe Gibbs Toyota 20.721s + 0.005s 3. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet 20.729s + 0.013s 4. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Chevrolet 20.740s + 0.024s 5. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota 20.744s + 0.028s 6. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 20.793s + 0.077s 7. Joey Logano Penske Ford 20.808s + 0.092s 8. Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Toyota 20.828s + 0.112s 9. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota 20.834s + 0.118s 10. Mark Martin Waltrip Toyota 20.837s + 0.121s 11. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford 20.839s + 0.123s 12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr Roush Fenway Ford 20.841s + 0.125s 13. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 20.844s + 0.128s 14. Kurt Busch Furniture Row Chevrolet 20.862s + 0.146s 15. Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 20.868s + 0.152s 16. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet 20.870s + 0.154s 17. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet 20.871s + 0.155s 18. Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet 20.883s + 0.167s 19. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet 20.900s + 0.184s 20. David Ragan Front Row Ford 20.904s + 0.188s 21. Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 20.912s + 0.196s 22. David Reutimann BK Toyota 20.912s + 0.196s 23. Brad Keselowski Penske Ford 20.925s + 0.209s 24. AJ Allmendinger Phoenix Chevrolet 20.944s + 0.228s 25. David Stremme Swan Toyota 20.961s + 0.245s 26. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet 20.966s + 0.250s 27. Josh Wise Front Row Ford 20.972s + 0.256s 28. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford 20.975s + 0.259s 29. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet 20.976s + 0.260s 30. Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 20.979s + 0.263s 31. Landon Cassill Circle Sport Chevrolet 20.982s + 0.266s 32. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota 20.994s + 0.278s 33. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford 21.009s + 0.293s 34. Aric Almirola Petty Ford 21.036s + 0.320s 35. Michael McDowell Parsons Ford 21.085s + 0.369s 36. Travis Kvapil BK Toyota 21.101s + 0.385s 37. David Gilliland Front Row Ford 21.113s + 0.397s 38. Mike Bliss Humphrey Smith Toyota 21.179s + 0.463s 39. JJ Yeley Baldwin Chevrolet 21.336s + 0.620s 40. Casey Mears Germain Ford 21.360s + 0.644s 41. Joe Nemechek NEMCO-JRR Toyota 21.448s + 0.732s 42. Timmy Hill FAS Lane Ford 21.481s + 0.765s 43. Brian Keselowski Keselowski Toyota 21.818s + 1.102s
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