Smith Sets Career Qualifying Mark At Richmond

RICHMOND, April 29, 2011: Regan Smith set a career-best qualifying effort of second in Friday's Sprint Cup time trials at Richmond International Raceway. The Furniture Row Racing driver will start Saturday night's race from the outside pole.

Smith's No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet covered the .75-mile short track in 21.031 seconds at 128.382 miles per hour. He just missed the pole which went to Juan Pablo Montoya, whose time and speed were 20.989 at 128.639.

It was the sixth top-five starting spot of the season for Smith, who leads the Cup series in qualifying with a 7.1 average.

"We really wanted that first pole so we could get that out of the way," said Smith. "I got a little loose in turn four and that probably cost us the No. 1 spot. But overall I am proud of my guys. Fridays have sure been fun. But we need to take advantage of these strong qualifying efforts on race day. We're getting there and I am confident that we're heading in the right direction."

Saturday night's Crown Royal presents the Matthew and Daniel Hansen 400 will be televised on FOX, beginning with a 30-minute prerace show at 7 p.m. MT.