NASCAR at Richmond 2017 Qualifying Results: Matt Kenseth Lands Pole Position

Matt Kenseth will start on the pole at the Toyota Owners 400 after winning Friday's qualifying.

The No. 20 car posted a time of 22.300 seconds in the final round of the Coors Light qualifying at Richmond International Raceway. His top speed reached 121.076 miles per hour.

Ryan Blaney will join him on the front row after his second-place finish, with Martin Truex Jr. starting in third place. 

Here are the top qualifiers from Friday's action:

Pos.	Driver	Car	Time
1	Matt Kenseth	20	22.300
2	Ryan Blaney	21	22.341
3	Martin Truex Jr.	78	22.373
4	Rick Stenhouse Jr.	17	22.412
5	Joey Logano	22	22.429
6	Kevin Harvick	4	22.439
7	Kyle Busch	18	22.468
8	Clint Bowyer	14	22.473
9	Kurt Busch	41	22.495
10	Jamie McMurray	1	22.558
11	Daniel Suarez	19	22.672
12	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	88	22.689
	Eliminated After Round 2
13	Ryan Newman	31	22.557
14	Chase Elliott	24	22.562
15	Brad Keselowski	2	22.562
16	Denny Hamlin	11	22.563
17	Jimmie Johnson	48	22.568
18	Kyle Larson	42	22.617
19	Kasey Kahne	5	22.646
20	Erik Jones	77	22.699
21	Danica Patrick	10	22.709
22	AJ Allmendinger	47	22.758
23	Chris Buescher	37	22.797
24	Ty Dillon	13	23.072

Kenseth seemingly took it easy through the first two rounds, doing just what was necessary to advance. He was in eighth in the first round and sixth in the second, but then he turned it on when he needed to earn his first pole of the year.

It took just four laps in three rounds to secure the pole.

Fox Sports captured the winning performance:

Blaney should also be proud of his consistency to end up in second place once again. Per Nick DeGroot of Motorsport.com, it's the third time he will start on the front row this year.

Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick were the best in the first round of qualifying, which featured little drama, as noted by Jeff Gluck:

There were some bigger names who missed out on advancing in the second round.

Brad Keselowski ended up in 15th place, while points leader Kyle Larson will start in 18th after a relatively disappointing showing.

Jimmie Johnson hasn't excelled in qualifying and ended up in 17th place, although he didn't seem to mind afterward, via Team Lowe's Racing:

He has won two races already this season, including last week's Food City 500, which means fans shouldn't worry too much about the veteran driver.

A few notable names fell behind in the final round after seemingly accepting their fates.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. ended up in 12th place with a lap that was slower than he provided earlier in the night. Kyle Busch, who has had a lot of success at Richmond in the past, ended up in seventh place.

Meanwhile, Logano fell to fifth place after sitting in first after each of the first two rounds.

These top competitors will try to use their qualifying to launch them toward success in Sunday's race. The Toyota Owners 400 is set for 2 p.m. ET with each driver hoping to move up the standings to catch Larson.

With last year's champion, Carl Edwards, no longer competing, this is really anybody's race.