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Brad Keselowski wins provisional pole for Richmond Cup race

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Brad Keselowski says he didn't know what to expect during qualifying, but he points to "phenomenal short-run speed" as the reason why the No. 2 team captures the Cup Series pole at Richmond.

Playoff driver Brad Keselowski has won the provisional pole for Saturday’s Cup Series playoff race at Richmond Raceway (7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN).

He claimed the pole with a speed of 127.185 mph.

The starting lineup will be finalized tomorrow after pre-race inspection. One failure will result in a qualifying time being disallowed. Should it be made official it will be Keselowski’s third pole of the season, his most since earning three in 2015.

“I didn’t know what to expect, we didn’t do a qualifying run in practice, but we’ve had phenomenal short-run speed here,” Keselowski told NBCSN. “Haven’t necessarily qualified all that well but when the race comes we get the short runs and and we can really make some steam.”

The top five is completed by playoff drivers Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer.

Jimmie Johnson (10th) was the highest qualifying non-playoff driver.

Where the rest of the playoff drivers qualified:

Denny Hamlin - sixth

Aric Almirola - seventh

Martin Truex Jr. - eighth

Kurt Busch - ninth

Kyle Larson - 13th

Ryan Blaney - 15th

Erik Jones - 16th

Ryan Newman - 19th

Alex Bowman - 20th

William Byron - 25th

Joey Logano - 28th

Click here for the provisional starting lineup.