RICHMOND, Va. – Austin Cindric will start his pursuit of the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship from the pole position after topping qualifying on Friday afternoon at Richmond Raceway.

Cindric turned a lap of 22.708 seconds (118.901 mph) around the three-quarter-mile D-shaped oval to earn the pole with his No. 22 MoneyLion Ford.

He’ll look to deliver Team Penske a victory during the Go Bowling 250 under the lights and advance his way into the second round of the playoffs right away, but Cindric did have a nervous moment on his money lap.

The son of Team Penske president Tim Cindric just scraped the outside wall exiting turn two on his second lap, dusting off the right-rear quarter panel of his Mustang before reining it in on the other end.

“Man, on these short tracks you just have to get every hundredth (of a second), but I guess hindsight being 20/20, if we had known we had the pole by a tenth and some change … maybe we take it a touch easier,” Cindric chuckled. “But this is great, to get on the pole in the first round and the first race of the playoffs. It’s awesome. We’ve got MoneyLion on pole and hopefully we can stay there the whole race.”

Justin Allgaier will join Cindric on the front row, after a time of 22.826 seconds (118.286 mph) with the No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro out of the JR Motorsports stable.

Regular-season champion Tyler Reddick was third, just in front of Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe.

Harrison Burton qualified sixth-quick, best among the non-playoff drivers, while playoff contenders Justin Haley and Noah Gragson followed in seventh and eighth, respectively.

Another driver hoping to crash the party, Gray Gaulding, slotted in ninth ahead of Michael Annett.

The Go Bowling 250 goes green at 7:30 p.m. ET, live on NBCSN, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

QUALIFYING RESULTS: NASCAR Xfinity Series; Richmond Raceway; Sept. 20, 2019

1. #22 – Austin Cindric, 22.708 seconds (118.901 mph)
2. #7 – Justin Allgaier, 22.826 seconds (118.286 mph)
3. #2 – Tyler Reddick, 22.863 seconds (118.095 mph)
4. #20 – Christopher Bell, 22.961 seconds (117.591 mph)
5. #98 – Chase Briscoe, 22.973 seconds (117.529 mph)
6. #18 – Harrison Burton, 22.975 seconds (117.519 mph)
7. #11 – Justin Haley, 23.037 seconds (117.203 mph)
8. #9 – Noah Gragson, 23.042 seconds (117.177 mph)
9. #08 – Gray Gaulding, 23.088 seconds (116.944 mph)
10. #1 – Michael Annett, 23.095 seconds (116.908 mph)
11. #19 – Brandon Jones, 23.107 seconds (116.848 mph)
12. #00 – Cole Custer, 23.111 seconds (116.827 mph)
13. #39 – Ryan Sieg, 23.116 (116.802 mph)
14. #51 – Jeremy Clements, 23.121 seconds (116.777 mph)
15. #8 – Zane Smith, 23.136 seconds (116.701 mph)
16. #21 – Joe Graf Jr., 23.166 seconds (116.550 mph)
17. #89 – Landon Cassill, 23.189 seconds (116.435 mph)
18. #07 – Ray Black II, 23.310 seconds (115.830 mph)
19. #01 – Ryan Repko, 23.456 seconds (115.109 mph)
20. #61 – Chad Finchum, 23.492 seconds (114.933 mph)
21. #4 – Stephen Leicht, 23.522 seconds (114.786 mph)
22. #86 – Brandon Brown, 23.525 seconds (114.772 mph)
23. #99 – Matt Mills, 23.629 seconds (114.266 mph)
24. #74 – Tyler Matthews, 23.638 seconds (114.223 mph)
25. #17 – Joe Nemechek, 23.652 seconds (114.155 mph)
26. #90 – Dillon Bassett, 23.660 seconds (114.117 mph)
27. #5 – Vinnie Miller, 23.667 seconds (114.083 mph)
28. #36 – Josh Williams, 23.685 seconds (113.996 mph)
29. #52 – David Starr, 23.810 seconds (113.398 mph)
30. #35 – Joey Gase, 23.863 seconds (113.146 mph)
31. #66 – Mike Marlar, 23.883 seconds (113.051 mph)
32. #0 – Garrett Smithley, 23.906 seconds (112.942 mph)
33. #15 – B.J. McLeod, 23.919 seconds (112.881 mph)
34. #78 – J.J. Yeley, 23.942 seconds, (112.773 mph)
35. #93 – Hermie Sadler, 24.361 seconds (110.833 mph)
36. #38 – C.J. McLaughlin, 24.394 seconds (110.683 mph)
37. #13 – Stan Mullis, 25.289 seconds (106.766 mph)
38. #23 – John Hunter Nemechek, NT (0.000 mph)