Team Penske's Ryan Blaney took the pole position for Saturday night's Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway, the 24th of 26 races on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series regular season schedule.
Blaney secured the top spot for Saturday's 400-lap around the four-turn, 0.75-mile (1.207-kilometer) Richmond, Virginia oval by recording a top lap speed of 121.485 miles per hour in his No. 12 Ford during Friday afternoon's qualifying session.
Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe, whom Blaney beat to the top spot by 0.05 seconds, it set to start beside him on the front row behind the wheel of his No. 19 Toyota.
Richard Childress Racing's Austin Dillon, the two-time reigning winner of this race, qualified 16th behind the wheel of his No. 3 Chevrolet. He started in sixth in August 2024 and 11th in August 2025.
Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin, the championship leader and the most recent Richmond winner not named Dillon (March 2024), qualified 14th behind the wheel of his No. 11 Toyota.
No polesitter has won at Richmond since Hamlin won in September 2016. No driver has even won from the front row at the track in the 16 races that have taken place there since then.
Here's a look at the full starting lineup for Saturday's Cook Out 400 at Richmond. Note that pre-race penalties are not factored into the chart below.
Full NASCAR Cup Series starting lineup at Richmond
Order | Driver |
|---|---|
1 | Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford |
2 | Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
3 | Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford |
4 | Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
5 | William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
6 | Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford |
7 | Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota |
8 | Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
9 | Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford |
10 | Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford |
11 | Connor Zilisch, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
12 | John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
13 | Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
14 | Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota |
15 | A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
16 | Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
17 | Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota |
18 | Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
19 | Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford |
20 | Daniel Suarez, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
21 | Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota |
22 | Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
23 | Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford |
24 | Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
25 | Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
26 | Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet |
27 | Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
28 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet |
29 | Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet |
30 | Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet |
31 | Shane van Gisbergen, No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet |
32 | Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota |
33 | Austin Hill, No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet |
34 | Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet |
35 | Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford |
36 | Josh Bilicki, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford |
37 | Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet |
Live coverage of the antepenultimate race of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series regular season is set to be provided by USA Network beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 15. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the Cook Out 400 action from Richmond Raceway!
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