Kenseth wins pole for Sunday at Richmond

RICHMOND, Va. — Matt Kenseth won the pole position for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway.

The 2003 series champion needed only four laps in three rounds of qualifying Friday, outrunning final-round qualifiers like Joey Logano, who was fastest in each of the first two rounds, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who made it to the final round, but will start 12th.

The pole was just the 19th for Kenseth, who will make his 623rd career start this weekend, and his second at Richmond. He and teammates Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and rookie Daniel Suarez will be trying to give Joe Gibbs Racing its first victory of the season at a track where they have been dominant in recent years. Gibbs cars have won the last three races on the 0.75-mile oval.

Kenseth has won twice at Richmond, the last in the fall race in 2015. Hamlin, who grew up about 20 miles from the track, will start 28th, while Busch will start seventh and Suarez 11th.

Ryan Blaney, driving for the Wood Brothers, will start second, followed by Martin Truex Jr., Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Logano.