Larson bests Elliott for Richmond Cup pole
Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
RICHMOND, Va. — Kyle Larson claimed his first pole position of the 2024 season Saturday afternoon to lead an all Hendrick Motorsports front row for Sunday’s Toyota Owner’s 400 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway (7 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Larson’s time of 22.438-seconds (120.332 mph) just bettered his teammate Chase Elliott’s mark of 22.440-seconds (120.321) around the three-quarter mile Richmond oval – good enough to earn the 2021 series champion and defending Richmond race winner the 17th pole position of his career.
“Definitely helps for sure,” Larson said of his effort. “Having the number one pit stall here means a lot. So happy to do that. Happy to be in Group A for sure and then the sun coming out a little bit there helps.
“Chase got real close there so I was a bit nervous. Awesome day for Hendrick Motorsports. … Good to be on the pole. We’ll see if it translates in tomorrow’s race.”
Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain will start third followed by Hendrick driver Alex Bowman and 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace.
Front Row Motorsports’ Todd Gilliland, Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs, and Team Penske teammates Austin Cindric and Joey Logano rounded out the top qualifiers at Richmond.
Logano’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford had been fastest in Group A during first round qualifying, as had Elliott, whose 22.114-second 122.095 mph was quickest overall in the opening round.
Of note, Denny Hamlin just missed advancing to second round qualifying and the four-time Richmond winner will start 11th in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, who posted the fastest 30-lap average speed in practice, will start 12th.
Last week’s winner at the Circuit of The Americas road course, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron will roll off 13th. He is the first multi-race winner of the season, with victories in the Daytona 500 and COTA. He’ll start alongside the summer Richmond race winner, RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher.
Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch, who leads all active drivers with six Richmond victories, will roll off 15th.
ANOTHER FIRST TIME POLESITTER
The NASCAR Xfinity Series had another first-time pole-winner this season with Jordan Anderson Racing’s Parker Retzlaff, a 20-year old Wisconsin native, claiming the top starting position in the No. 31 Chevrolet for Saturday afternoon’s ToyotaCare 250 (1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“It feels great,” said Retzlaff, noting, “This is where I made my first start two years ago so kind of feels full circle.”
Starting Line Up by Row
Richmond Raceway
Toyota Owners 400
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 3/30/2024 @ 12:37 PM Eastern
Driver Date Time Speed
Track Race Record: Dale Jarrett 09/06/97 2:45:04 109.047
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
Row 1: 1 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 22.438 120.332
2 9 Chase Elliott UniFirst Chevrolet 22.440 120.321
Row 2: 3 1 Ross Chastain Busch Light Chevrolet 22.489 120.059
4 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 22.526 119.861
Row 3: 5 23 Bubba Wallace McDonald's Toyota 22.534 119.819
6 38 Todd Gilliland FARXIGA(dapagliflozin) Ford 22.545 119.760
Row 4: 7 19 Martin Truex Jr. Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota 22.578 119.585
8 54 Ty Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota 22.591 119.517
Row 5: 9 2 Austin Cindric Discount Tire Ford 22.668 119.111
10 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 22.676 119.069
Row 6: 11 11 Denny Hamlin Mavis Tires & Brakes Toyota 22.230 121.457
12 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Duracell Ford 22.448 120.278
Row 7: 13 24 William Byron Liberty University Chevrolet 22.231 121.452
14 17 Chris Buescher Nexletol Ford 22.460 120.214
Row 8: 15 8 Kyle Busch Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet 22.255 121.321
16 41 Ryan Preece United Rentals Ford 22.477 120.123
Row 9: 17 10 Noah Gragson Superior Essex Ford 22.255 121.321
18 42 John Hunter Nemechek Safeway Toyota 22.487 120.069
Row 10: 19 45 Tyler Reddick SiriusXM Toyota 22.286 121.152
20 99 Daniel Suarez Quaker State Chevrolet 22.518 119.904
Row 11: 21 7 Corey LaJoie Gainbridge Chevrolet 22.333 120.897
22 3 Austin Dillon BREZTRI Chevrolet 22.526 119.861
Row 12: 23 6 Brad Keselowski BuildSubmarines.com Ford 22.335 120.887
24 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Kroger/NOS Energy Drink Chevrolet 22.536 119.808
Row 13: 25 77 Carson Hocevar # Delaware Life Chevrolet 22.367 120.714
26 21 Harrison Burton DEX Imaging Ford 22.553 119.718
Row 14: 27 43 Erik Jones Dollar Tree Toyota 22.375 120.670
28 71 Zane Smith # Focused Health Chevrolet 22.564 119.660
Row 15: 29 20 Christopher Bell Mobil 1 Toyota 22.383 120.627
30 4 Josh Berry # SunnyD Ford 22.574 119.607
Row 16: 31 34 Michael McDowell Long John Silver's Ford 22.460 120.214
32 14 Chase Briscoe HighPoint.com Ford 22.613 119.400
Row 17: 33 16 Ty Dillon(i) Chevy Accessories Chevrolet 22.495 120.027
34 31 Daniel Hemric LA Golf Chevrolet 22.972 117.534
Row 18: 35 15 Kaz Grala # N29 Capital Partners Ford 22.776 118.546
36 51 Justin Haley Walmart Health & Wellness Ford 23.007 117.356
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 14 0 Ford 14 0
Toyota 8 0
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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