MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Ryan Preece led a NASCAR Cup Series sweep of the front row for Thursday night’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway, the season opener for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

Preece stormed to the top spot with a track-record lap of 18.607 seconds (101.768 mph) in the second half of qualifying and maintained the standard through the remainder of the 35-car field.

The Berlin, Conn., native held off fellow Cup Series regular Ryan Newman – who was the final driver to take time around the .526-mile paper clip.

Newman will join Preece on the front row, posting a lap of 18.676 seconds (101.392 mph) in the No. 53 Curb Records Chevrolet, but it was Preece who laid claim to the Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole Award for the 17th time in his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour career.

Preece’s first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win came at Martinsville in 2008, on a day when he led 265 of 300 laps. He’ll seek his second Ridgeway grandfather clock trophy Thursday night.

Eric Goodale, Tommy Catalano and Woody Pitkat qualified third through fifth, respectively, with Kyle Ebersole, defending champion Justin Bonsignore, Jon McKennedy, Patrick Emerling and Tyler Rypkema filling out the top 10 on the grid.

Max McLaughlin rolls off 11th for the 200-lap race, while six-time Modified Tour champion Doug Coby starts 15th.

The Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 is scheduled for an 8 p.m. ET start, with live streaming coverage through NBC Sports Gold’s TrackPass platform. The race will be aired on tape-delay by NBCSN.

QUALIFYING RESULTS: NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour; Martinsville Speedway; April 8, 2021

1. #6 – Ryan Preece, 18.607 seconds (101.768 mph)
2. #53 – Ryan Newman, 18.676 seconds (101.392 mph)
3. #58 – Eric Goodale, 18.755 seconds (100.965 mph)
4. #54 – Tommy Catalano, 18.772 seconds (100.873 mph)
5. #1 – Woody Pitkat, 18.816 seconds (100.637 mph)
6. #5 – Kyle Ebersole, 18.817 seconds (100.632 mph)
7. #51 – Justin Bonsignore, 18.826 seconds (100.584 mph)
8. #7ny – Jon McKennedy, 18.831 seconds (100.557 mph)
9. #07 – Patrick Emerling, 18.844 seconds (100.488 mph)
10. #32 – Tyler Rypkema, 18.877 seconds (100.312 mph)
11. #85 – Ron Silk, 18.888 seconds (100.254 mph)
12. #77 – Max McLaughlin, 18.888 seconds (100.254 mph)
13. #50 – Ronnie Williams, 18.895 seconds (100.216 mph)
14. #70 – Andy Seuss, 18.899 seconds (100.195 mph)
15. #10 – Doug Coby, 18.901 seconds (100.185 mph)
16. #34 – J.B. Fortin, 18.914 seconds (100.116 mph)
17. #46 – Craig Lutz, 18.968 seconds (99.831 mph)
18. #57 – Jared Fryar, 18.974 seconds (99.799 mph)
19. #06 – Sam Rameau, 19.061 seconds (99.344 mph)
20. #36 – Dave Sapienza, 19.084 seconds (99.224 mph)
21. #97 – Bryan Dauzat, 19.090 seconds (99.193 mph)
22. #64 – Rob Summers, 19.102 seconds (99.130 mph)
23. #22 – Kyle Bonsignore, 19.141 seconds (98.929 mph)
24. #55 – Jeremy Gerstner, 19.148 seconds (98.892 mph)
25. #00 – Jeff Fultz, 19.151 seconds (98.877 mph)
26. #82 – Anthony Nocella, 19.162 seconds (98.820 mph)
27. #14 – Bobby Measmer Jr., 19.215 seconds (98.548 mph)
28. #15 – Kyle Soper, 19.264 seconds (98.297 mph)
29. #4 – Jeff Gallup, 19.356 seconds (97.830 mph)
30. #24 – Andrew Krause, 19.396 seconds (97.628 mph)
31. #26 – Gary McDonald, 19.605 seconds (96.587 mph)
32. #99 – Jamie Tomaino, 19.669 seconds (96.273 mph)
33. #78 – Walter Sutcliffe Jr., 19.837 seconds (95.457 mph)
34. #30 – Gary Byington, 20.550 seconds (92.145 mph)
35. #01 – Melissa Fifield, 21.403 seconds (88.473 mph)