June 22, 2019 | By Lee Spencer

Larson is fast, but needs to convert speed into win

SONOMA, Calif.—Kyle Larson is on the pole for the Toyota/Savemart 350—for the third-straight year.

He’s had the speed. He’s had the best pit stall. He’s had the track position. But he hasn’t been able to convert any of those advantages into the win.

So, what’s it going to take the Elk Grove, Calif. native into Victory Lane?

“We don’t ever come here and set up to get a pole,” Larson said. “We come here to try and win the race and have the set-up capable of winning the race. So, it just happens to work out where I’ve been good for short run-kind-of-stuff here my whole career.

“It seems like it’s kind of the same thing again this weekend. So, I don’t know. We’ve tried all sorts of different stuff so maybe it’s just my fault why I’m only good at qualifying.”

Larson, 26, has five starts on the old 1.99-mile configuration—and by far the best average qualifying effort—2.5. But he’s led just 11 laps and has yet to finish in the top 10.

Larson earned his eighth-career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup pole with a lap of 95.712mph. The driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet tied Ricky Rudd for most poles at Sonoma.

"It’s cool to get a third pole in a row here at my home track,” Larson said. “Thanks to Credit One Bank and all my guys for preparing another fast car. We’ll see if we can do a little better tomorrow than we typically do during the race.”

William Byron was second quick followed by Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez and Denny Hamlin. Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, Jimmie Johnson and Alex Bowman all transferred to the final round of qualifying.

Busch, who rolls off seventh on Sunday, had a decent recovery despite finding the grass and gravel during the first two practice sessions on Friday.

“We were running a long run there and I was just pushing every corner and trying to run harder and harder to see where the limits were with the tire and to make sure I could figure out what the pace on the long run was going to be and how much grip there was going to be,” Busch said.

The two-time Sonoma winner advocated for the addition of an asphalt curb to be added in Turn 5 after multiple cars dredged up debris on the track.

“Everybody was dumping their right sides off the race track and dumping dirt on the race track and kind of messing it up for the people that were behind him,” Busch said. “It’s going to get really dirty over there. Guys might be racing side-by-side during the race. The outside guy is definitely going to want to crowd the inside guy and go halfway into the dirt. So it was going to get interesting.

“If you’re a guy that’s leading the race—and you’re coming down to the last lap—just dump your tires into the dirt and the guy behind you is never going to catch you. It didn’t seem like it was all that smart not to have a curb over there.”

One driver that can’t seem to get a break this season is Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Erik Jones. On his first lap, he felt the left rear tire going down on the No. 20 Craftsman Toyota. Jones limped around the course during his second circuit, back to the garage. He’ll start 32nd on Sunday.

“I didn’t know it was flat, but it was flat the majority of the lap,” Jones said. “It finally blew coming down the front stretch to the checkers. It’s pretty unfortunate. We probably had a top-15 car in qualifying and now we’ll start 32nd.

“It’s the story of the whole year. Nothing really has gone my way to this point and it hasn’t changed this weekend—yet. Hopefully, we’ll get it together for tomorrow, work our way through the field and make a good day of it.”

Jones, 23, is in his third season in Cup—and also in a contract year. He takes solace in believing these are the best cars he’s had since graduating to NASCAR’s top tier.

“We still have a long season here,” Jones added. “We have time to make things right and I know we will.”

Despite the pressure to perform, one thing Jones isn’t worried about is renewing his contract with JGR.

“We’re in a good spot right now,” Jones said. “I feel like where we want to be to get it finished up here soon. Just figuring out the nit-pick stuff of it. I expect to be back and hope to announce it in the next few months.”