Richmond NASCAR: Penske's Joey Logano on pole at Chase cut-off race
Joey Logano scored his fifth pole position of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season in qualifying at Richmond
In the third and final part of qualifying, Penske Ford driver Logano set a best lap of 21.349 seconds.
That put him 0.019s ahead of second-placed Matt Kenseth, who had set the pace in the first two segments.
Logano's team-mate Brad Keselowski was just one thousandth of a second slower than Kenseth in third place, with Kyle Busch taking fourth.
Ahead the final race before the Chase, fifth-placed David Ragan was the highest-placed of those requiring a win to qualify.
Behind the Michael Waltrip Racing driver were Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson.
The last three cars in the top 12 shootout were three drivers needing to win Saturday night's race to make the Chase; Tony Stewart, Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon.
Those currently on course to qualify for the Chase who missed the cut for the top 12 were Ryan Newman in 13th, Martin Truex Jr in 16th, Paul Menard in 22nd and Jeff Gordon in 23rd.
Denny Hamlin (25th), Dale Earnhardt Jr (29th) and Jamie McMurray (31st) were the highest-profile casualties of the first segment.
The driver currently on the bubble in terms of making the Chase on points, Clint Bowyer, was 26th.
Aric Almirola and Kasey Kahne - the two drivers directly behind Bowyer in the standings - qualified 24th and 20th respectively.
QUALIFYING RESULT:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 21.349s | - |
| 2 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 21.368s | 0.019s |
| 3 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 21.369s | 0.020s |
| 4 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 21.437s | 0.088s |
| 5 | David Ragan | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 21.458s | 0.109s |
| 6 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 21.463s | 0.114s |
| 7 | Carl Edwards | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 21.474s | 0.125s |
| 8 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 21.516s | 0.167s |
| 9 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 21.530s | 0.181s |
| 10 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 21.552s | 0.203s |
| 11 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 21.560s | 0.211s |
| 12 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 21.570s | 0.221s |
| 13 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 21.372s | - |
| 14 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 21.376s | - |
| 15 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 21.395s | - |
| 16 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Chevrolet | 21.406s | - |
| 17 | Brian Scott | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 21.424s | - |
| 18 | Justin Allgaier | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 21.439s | - |
| 19 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 21.449s | - |
| 20 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 21.456s | - |
| 21 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 21.465s | - |
| 22 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 21.478s | - |
| 23 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 21.497s | - |
| 24 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 21.509s | - |
| 25 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 21.243s | - |
| 26 | Clint Bowyer | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 21.244s | - |
| 27 | Michael Annett | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 21.244s | - |
| 28 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 21.250s | - |
| 29 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 21.290s | - |
| 30 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 21.296s | - |
| 31 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 21.345s | - |
| 32 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 21.381s | - |
| 33 | Matt DiBenedetto | BK Racing | Toyota | 21.381s | - |
| 34 | Cole Whitt | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 21.430s | - |
| 35 | Landon Cassill | Hillman Smith Motorsports | Chevrolet | 21.443s | - |
| 36 | Alex Bowman | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 21.445s | - |
| 37 | Brett Moffitt | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 21.503s | - |
| 38 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 21.558s | - |
| 39 | Michael McDowell | Leavine Family Racing | Ford | 21.619s | - |
| 40 | Reed Sorenson | Phil Parsons Racing | Ford | 21.657s | - |
| 41 | Jeb Burton | BK Racing | Toyota | 21.757s | - |
| 42 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Go FAS Racing | Ford | 21.767s | - |
| 43 | J.J. Yeley | BK Racing | Toyota | 21.857s | - |
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