Ryan Preece is in his first fulltime season behind the wheel of the No. 41 NASCAR Ford Mustang, and now, he can add a pole position to his list of accolades – he laid down the fastest lap during qualifying at Martinsville Speedway on April 15th, 2023.
Preece got around the half-mile asphalt oval in 19.979 seconds, pushing the No. 41 Mustang to 94.78 mph. He was the only driver to make a lap in under 20 seconds.
“I was fighting loose that first lap,” Preece said after qualifying. “It’s a pole. Not a race. So I guess from a company standpoint, it makes us all very optimistic for tomorrow, and can to just be smart and we can have good days. It certainly shows that our short track program is really good, and I know our superspeedway program has been extremely good too, and we’ll keep working on that.”
It’s worth noting that when Preece snagged the pole position in the Truck Series and Xfinity Series, he went on to win both races.
Daniel Suárez will start second in the No. 99 Chevy Camaro ZL1, with a time of 20.081 seconds at 94.298 mph, followed by the No. 10 Mustang of Aric Almirola in third, who tied Suárez’s time of 20.081 seconds. Chase Briscoe will start fourth in the No. 14 NASCAR Ford, while Martin Truex Jr.’s No. 19 Toyota TRD Camry will start fifth.
Weather has been a concern at Martinsville all weekend, but recently, NASCAR debuted a wet-weather tire that would allow the race to commence even in rainy conditions. The green flag is scheduled to drop on Sunday, April 16th, 2023 at 3 p.m. ET.
| Pos | Car Number | Driver | Team | Time | Speed | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 41 | Ryan Preece | HaasTooling.com Ford | 19.979 | 94.78 | Ford Mustang |
| 2 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 20.081 | 94.298 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 3 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 20.081 | 94.298 | Ford Mustang |
| 4 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | HighPoint.com Ford | 20.112 | 94.153 | Ford Mustang |
| 5 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 20.119 | 94.12 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 6 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | The Beast Unleashed Toyota | 20.128 | 94.078 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 7 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Realtree/Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford | 20.15 | 93.975 | Ford Mustang |
| 8 | 24 | William Byron | Liberty University Chevrolet | 20.155 | 93.952 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 9 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | McDonald's Toyota | 20.167 | 93.896 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 10 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Nexletol Ford | 20.191 | 93.784 | Ford Mustang |
| 11 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota | 20.227 | 93.617 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 12 | 54 | Ty Gibbs # | Monster Energy Toyota | 20.232 | 93.594 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 13 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Frontline Enterprises Inc. Ford | 20.267 | 93.433 | Ford Mustang |
| 14 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Action Industries Chevrolet | 20.297 | 93.295 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 15 | 22 | Joey Logano | Verizon 5G Ford | 20.304 | 93.262 | Ford Mustang |
| 16 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger/Tree Top Chevrolet | 20.307 | 93.249 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 17 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Mark III Employee Benefits Chevrolet | 20.326 | 93.161 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 18 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet | 20.353 | 93.038 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 19 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 20.356 | 93.024 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 20 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Long John Silver's Ford | 20.362 | 92.997 | Ford Mustang |
| 21 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Fastenal Ford | 20.377 | 92.928 | Ford Mustang |
| 22 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Shingrix Toyota | 20.382 | 92.906 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 23 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 20.382 | 92.906 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 24 | 9 | Chase Elliott | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 20.384 | 92.896 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 25 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Menards/Libman Ford | 20.394 | 92.851 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 20.395 | 92.846 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 27 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | NEGU Chevrolet | 20.408 | 92.787 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 43 | Erik Jones | Allegiant Chevrolet | 20.409 | 92.783 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 29 | 42 | Noah Gragson # | Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet | 20.469 | 92.511 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 30 | 78 | Anthony Alfredo(i) | Andy's Frozen Custard Chevrolet | 20.478 | 92.47 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 31 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Advance Auto Parts Ford | 20.507 | 92.339 | Ford Mustang |
| 32 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford | 20.507 | 92.339 | Ford Mustang |
| 33 | 51 | Zane Smith(i) | Biohaven/Jacob Co. Ford | 20.571 | 92.052 | Ford Mustang |
| 34 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Unishippers Chevrolet | 20.619 | 91.838 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 35 | 77 | Ty Dillon | NationsGuard Chevrolet | 20.624 | 91.815 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 36 | 15 | JJ Yeley(i) | Isaacson Concrete & Excavating Ford | 20.673 | 91.598 | Ford Mustang |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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