Parker Retzlaff has clinched the pole position for the ToyotaCare 250 Xfinity Series race at Richmond Raceway. Retzlaff driving the No. 31 Chevrolet Camaro for Jordan Anderson Racing clocked the fastest lap of 22.420 in the qualifying rounds, which was enough for him to secure the pole for the main event later today.
The 20-year-old driver, with his impressive showing at the racetrack, managed to secure his first-ever pole in his Xfinity Series career. He has already registered two top 5 finishes since the start of the season and will be backing himself to get his first win. Joining him on the front row will be Brandon Jones from JR Motorsports. Cole Custer, Chandler Smith, and Justin Allgaier managed to secure their spots in the top 5 starting positions.
Retzlaff is confident about a good result at Richmond on the back of his qualifying run
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Having started his run with JAR last season, Retzlaff was hailed to be among the series’ rising stars. He did show a glimpse of his talent with a total of seven top-10 finishes last season and came ever so close to his first win at Daytona. However, he never had the added advantage of starting the race on the front foot.
The 2024 season has been a good one for the young driver, as he has already bagged two top-five finishes. At COTA, he just missed out on finishing inside the top 10 positions and managed a P11 finish. However, with the start at the front of the field for today’s event, Retzlaff is looking to build on his strong start of the day and back his good qualifying run with a solid performance in the race as well.
“It feels great; I mean, this is the place I’ve had circled since the start of the year. Last year, we didn’t practice or qualify, so I think we struggled a little bit more. It all started basically two years ago, so it’s all kind of full circle getting the first pole here, and I just have to thank everyone on the Funkaway car. From the start of the day, the car was just fast, and it’s just led on the whole day. We did a good qualifying lap, and now we’ll do it in the race,” Retzalff said after the qualifying.
FIRST POLE EVER!@Parker79p earns the best view of the green flag today at @RichmondRaceway! pic.twitter.com/oyCagaOx54
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) March 30, 2024
However, given how close the margins were in terms of qualifying, it will be interesting to see if Retzlaff will be able to continue his momentum for the day.
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Top starting positions for the Xfinity Series race at Richmond Raceway
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Brandon Jones just missed out on the pole himself, as he finished second with his best lap of 22.516; thus, this will see him start just behind the pole winner. In the second row, we have Cole Custer and Chandler Smith. Both drivers are in the top three drivers standings and will now look to jump positions. Rounding off the top five positions, we have Justin Allgaier.
Joining Allgaier in the third row, is Corey Heim, who was in the running to clinch the pole halfway through qualifying. Veteran driver AJ Allmendinger will share the fourth row alongside Jesse Love. Whereas, Parker Klingerman and Aric Almirola will start in the ninth and tenth starting positions, respectively.
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Opportunities like these come few and far for a driver like Parker Retzlaff. So if he does manage to deliver his best performance, he can pull off a big win for himself and his team.