Martin Truex Jr. keeps putting up good qualifying runs and great races, and he is once again in great position to succeed in Richmond this weekend after winning his third pole of the season.
He has been one of the best short-track racers over the last two years as he leads all drivers in laps led at Phoenix and Richmond with 904.
RICHMOND ODDS: Fantasy advice, prediction, sleepers
"I feel pretty good," Truex told Fox Sports 1 after qualifying. "I thought we had a good practice today, it's hard to put too much stock into with it being a daytime practice, nighttime race, but we've got some good history to go off here the last couple of years, we've been really strong, (and) if we're ever going to get that short-track win, I feel like this is the place to do it."
Chase Elliott will start second and Joey Logano will be third.
RICHMOND LIVE BLOG: Live uptdates from Toyota Owners 400
The story of qualifying, though, was Kyle Busch, who qualified 32nd.
Busch told FS1 he was trying to save his tires for the later rounds, but he miscalcuated his time and ran a slow lap as a result. If Busch were to somehow come back from that far down to win it would be the first time he has ever won a race starting outside the top 30.
Kyle Busch said he needed a third lap before his tires came in. He only ran the two, one timed, trying to save for the other rounds.
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverAW) April 20, 2018
It backfired.
It should be noted that seven of the eight winners this season started inside the top 12.
The Toyota Owners 400 kicks off at 6:30 p.m. ET Saturday night on Fox.
Toyota Owners 400 starting lineup
1. Martin Truex Jr.
2. Chase Elliott
3. Joey Logano
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Kyle Larson
6. Kurt Busch
7. Erik Jones
8. Jamie McMurray
9. William Byron
10. Kevin Harvick
11. Alex Bowman
12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
13. Ryan Blaney
14. Ryan Newman
15. David Ragan
16. Clint Bowyer
17. Jimmie Johnson
18. Darrell Wallace Jr.
19. Chris Buescher
20. Paul Menard
21. Trevor Bayne
22. Daniel Hemric
23. Austin Dillon
24. Michael McDowell
25. Aric Almirola
26. Daniel Suarez
27. Matt DiBenedetto
28. Brad Keselowski
29. Kasey Kahne
30. Ross Chastain
31. Ty Dillon
32. Kyle Busch
33. AJ Allmendinger
34. Gray Gaulding
35. Cole Whitt
36. Landon Cassill
37. Reed Sorenson
38. Harrison Rhodes