Blake Koch was the fastest driver in the lone, two-hour NASCAR XFINITY Series practice session on Friday morning at Richmond International Raceway after turning a lap at 122.912 mph.
Koch enters this weekend eighth in points, a solid 36 ahead of the playoff cutline with just two races to go. Koch has a best finish of eighth at Richmond (from the spring of 2016) and finished 11th in the spring race this season.
William Byron was second fastest while Brandon Jones ended up third. Jones is on the outside looking in at the playoffs and will likely need a win to make the field.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., making a rare XFINITY Series start, was fourth fastest on the board and the fastest of six Cup Series regulars in the field. Ryan Reed rounded out the top five.
There were four brief red flags during the session. Dakoda Armstrong, Ross Chastain, and Brendan Gaughan all had minor incidents that didn’t cause any noticeable body damage to their race cars, while there was another red flag for debris.
Of the 30 drivers that stayed out for ten consecutive laps, Justin Allgaier was fastest followed by Spencer Gallagher and Brad Keselowski.
The Virginia529 College Savings 250 will run tonight at 7:30 p.m. on NBCSN.
FULL XFINITY SERIES PRACTICE RESULTS
Michael has watched NASCAR for 20 years and regularly covered the sport from 2013-2021, and also formerly covered the SRX series from 2021-2023. He now covers the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and road course events in the NASCAR Cup Series.