Ryan Preece put his No. 41 Ford on the pole for the upcoming Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, capping off an exceptional day of qualifying for Stewart-Haas Racing. Preece outpaced fellow Ford driver Joey Logano, who qualified second with an impressive run of his own on the half-mile track.
After topping the charts in the opening round of qualifying, Preece continued his dominance by posting the fastest lap in the second round. With his pole-winning time of 19.983 seconds (98.901 mph), Preece became the first driver outside of the "Big Three" (Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, and Martin Truex Jr.) to earn a pole position in 2019.
"I'm really excited for tomorrow," said Preece, who is coming off his best finish of the season (fourth place) last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. "I think we have a really good race car. It's going to be a really tough race, but I'm looking forward to it."
Logano, who won the spring race at Martinsville last year, narrowly edged out Brad Keselowski (third) and Denny Hamlin (fourth) for the front-row starting spot. Ford drivers claimed four of the top five spots in qualifying, with Aric Almirola rounding out the top five.
Defending race winner Clint Bowyer will start from the sixth position, followed by William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Daniel Hemric, and Kyle Busch. Busch, who leads the Cup Series standings by nine points over his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Hamlin, was the fastest Toyota driver in qualifying.
One notable driver who struggled in qualifying was Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott. The 2018 playoff contender will start from the 24th position after failing to advance past the first round of qualifying. Elliott, who won three races last season and made it to the Round of 8 in the playoffs, has yet to find his way to Victory Lane in 2019.
Despite his disappointing qualifying run, Elliott remains optimistic about his chances in the race.
"I think we have a good car," said Elliott, who finished sixth at Martinsville in the fall of 2018. "Obviously, we have some work to do to get it better, but I think we can get there."
Sunday's race at Martinsville will be the first short-track event of the season for the Cup Series. The historic Virginia track, which measures just over half a mile in length, is known for its tight turns and high contact between drivers. The race is expected to be a grueling test of endurance for the competitors, with 500 laps on tap.
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