NASCAR: Preece starts from pole for today’s Martinsville race

For the first time in his NASCAR Cup Series career, Ryan Preece will lead the field to green in his 124th start for Sunday’s NOCO 400 at Martinsville Speedway. Preece’s blazing speed of 94.780 mph in Saturday’s final round was the one and only lap to break 20 seconds around the 0.526-mile short track.

The 32-year-old Connecticut driver is the 14th driver to notch his first pole position at the 0.526-mile paperclip shaped track. He’ll start alongside Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez.

“I was fighting loose that first lap,” Preece said with a smile, adding, “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.”

Of note, Preece has won a pole in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series – and he won both those races (at Iowa in 2017 and at Nashville in 2022, respectively).

Daniel Suárez will join Preece on the front row after putting down a lap of 94.298 mph.

Aric Almirola and Chase Briscoe locked out Row 2 as both earned their best starts of the 2023 season. Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top five in qualifying.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. and 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick will start on the third row, followed by SHR’s Kevin Harvick and defending race winner, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron. 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace and Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Chris Buescher round out the top 10.

As with Stewart-Haas, the 23XI Racing team batted a thousand in qualifying — pushing both its cars into the final round.

The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott will roll off 24th in his first race back from injury. The former Martinsville winner broke his leg six weeks ago and is marking his return to the seat of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet this weekend.

Starting Lineup