Ryan Preece will start the race at Richmond Raceway with clean air on pole. He hopes to complete the 70-lap stage one without a caution to secure the stage win, which could be crucial for his run for the last few playoff spots.If a caution comes out, Preece could lose track position in favor of a good pit strategy, especially considering Richmond is a high-tire-wear track. This is why teams requested an additional tire set, but NASCAR did not grant it. Pitting under green at the 0.75-mile oval is costly, often putting a driver multiple laps down. For that reason, he expects no one will attempt a stop during stage one.In a pre-race interview, Ryan Preece, driver of the #60 RFK Racing Ford, outlined his plans for the first stage of the upcoming Cook Out 400.“There's no better place than starting on pole, and with stage one being 70 laps, I don't think you're going to have anybody pitting in that stage because there's no way you can make it up.”“So my hope is that we don't have any cautions. We run 70 straight laps. We can win that stage, and then from there, everybody who ever came up with the best strategy and takes care of the tires best... seems like that's what it's going to be.”Bob Pockrass then asked Preece whether running 70 laps without a pit stop was realistic, given the risk of tire failures over such a long stint. The 34-year-old NASCAR Cup Series driver replied:“Well, I don't think you're going to see people 35 laps and then 35. I don't see that happening. [...] My math would say somebody coming in and pitting after 35 laps and splitting a 70-lap stage where there's potential for a lot of cautions, in putting you two laps down, I just think the risk is too much.”The first-place start at Richmond is Ryan Preece's first pole of the 2025 NASCAR season. He had strong qualifying efforts, though, including two second-place starts at Darlington Raceway and Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Meanwhile, his best result so far came at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a third-place finish.The Cook Out 400 takes place Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET and serves as the penultimate race of the regular season. With three playoff spots still up for grabs, Preece faces an uphill climb as he sits 34 points below the cutline. Those positions are currently occupied by Tyler Reddick (+117), Alex Bowman (+60), and his RFK Racing teammate Chris Buescher (+34).Ryan Preece reflects on maiden NASCAR pole for RFK RacingAfter earning his first pole position with RFK Racing, Ryan Preece said the result didn’t catch him off guard. He felt the #60 Ford had shown plenty of speed in practice and was confident it was capable of delivering a strong qualifying run.The Berlin, Connecticut native stated (via NASCAR):“I felt like it was on my bingo card, I’m not sure about everybody else's.”Ryan Preece drives the #60 Ford Mustang for RFK Racing - Source: ImagnThis feat marks his second career pole. The first came in the 2023 NOCO 400 at Martinsville Speedway back when he was still driving for the now-defunct Stewart-Haas Racing team. He led for 135 of 400 laps but eventually finished 15th.