NASCAR starting lineup at Richmond: Matt Kenseth wins pole for regular-season finale

Matt Kenseth is on the NASCAR playoffs bubble heading into Saturday night's race at Richmond International Raceway, but winning the pole Friday night at the short track will give him an important advantage throughout the race.

Kenseth captured his second pole of the season, and 20th of his career, with a 122.421 mph lap. He'll start alongside Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin on the front row.

"We were tight … I didn't think we were going to have enough speed," Kenseth told NBCSN afterward.

Starting up front not only gives Kenseth good field position at the start, it earned him the first stall on pit road, an important consideration at RIR.

Kenseth's earlier pole this season also came at Richmond. He led 164 laps in that race.

"We've been running pretty good the last few months … we've been up there in the mix but things just haven't fallen our way," Kenseth said.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 begins Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. ET and will air on NBC Sports Network and the NBC Sports app.

The 16-driver playoff field for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be set following this race. If there is no new winner, Chase Elliott, Kenseth and Jamie McMurray would all make the playoffs on points. But if there’s a fresh face in victory lane, one of the three will miss the postseason. Elliott sits 14th on the playoff grid, a mere two points ahead of Kenseth and three points ahead of McMurray.

Here’s how the playoff grid shakes out heading into Saturday night's race: Martin Truex Jr. (four wins, 52 playoff points), Kyle Busch (2, 20), Kyle Larson (3, 18), Jimmie Johnson (3, 16), Brad Keselowski (2, 14), Hamlin (2, 12), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2, 10), Kevin Harvick (1, 8), Ryan Blaney (1, 8), Kurt Busch (1, 5), Ryan Newman (1, 5), Kasey Kahne (1, 5), Austin Dillon (1, 5), Chase Elliott (94 points ahead of Clint Bowyer on the cutoff line, 2 playoff points), Kenseth (+92, 3), Jamie McMurray (+91, 0).

Starting lineup for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway

1. Matt Kenseth 2. Denny Hamlin 3. Kurt Busch 4. Kyle Larson 5. Martin Truex Jr. 6. Kevin Harvick 7. Kyle Busch 8. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 9. Chase Elliott 10. Erik Jones 11. Jamie McMurray 12. Joey Logano 13. Clint Bowyer 14. Ryan Blaney 15. Brad Keselowski 16. Daniel Suarez 17. Kasey Kahne 18. Trevor Bayne 19. Danica Patrick 20. Jimmie Johnson 21. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 22. AJ Allmendinger 23. Aric Almirola 24. Chris Buescher 25. Matt DiBenedetto 26. Paul Menard 27. Ryan Newman 28. Michael McDowell 29. David Ragan 30. Landon Cassill 31. Austin Dillon 32. Ty Dillon 33. Corey LaJoie 34. Gray Gaulding 35. Cole Whitt 36. Reed Sorenson 37. Jeffrey Earnhardt 38. Derrike Cope 39. B.J. McLeod