Kyle Larson, seen here from an earlier race weekend, scored the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway. Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Kyle Larson was a man on the move on Saturday at Richmond Raceway.
First off, he won the pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race.
Shortly thereafter, Larson left on a plane for Knoxville, Iowa, where he was locked into the main event in the prestigious Knoxville Nationals for winged sprint cars.
But before he was set to run the 1,425-pound sprint car, he navigated the .75-mile Richmond short track in 23.042 seconds (117.177 mph) in his 3,400-pound Camaro to knock fellow Chevrolet driver Ross Chastain (116.883 mph) off the provisional pole for Sunday’s race, the 24th NASCAR regular-season event of the season.
Coincidentally, Larson had lined up a plane ride with Justin Marks, Chastain’s Trackhouse Racing team owner, for the trip to Knoxville.
Chastain’s time of 23.100 seconds had held up until Larson made his run as the last driver on the track. Larson also had run the quickest qualifying lap of the afternoon (22.863 seconds/118.095 mph) to top Group B in the first round of time trials.
Larson drove hard into turn 1 on his money lap and thought that might be where he gained an edge.
“Even though I got into (turn) 1 way too hard and sideways, I’m imagining that’s probably where I made up my time,” Larson said. “Just getting it in really deep, and I think getting it under control before I got to the exit probably is where I made up the lap time.
“I don’t know, though. It could be (turns) 3 and 4. Who knows? But I felt like I got in a little deep — too deep for sure — but I think it worked out in the end.”
Denny Hamlin, who won the April 3 race at Richmond, qualified third at 116.485 mph. The Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets of William Byron and Alex Bowman were fourth and fifth, respectively.
The two drivers battling for the final spot in the NASCAR Cup Playoff both made the final round. Martin Truex, Jr. qualified sixth, but Ryan Blaney, who leads Truex by 19 points for the last Playoff berth, got loose on his first lap in the final round and had to back out of the throttle.
Blaney will start 10th on Sunday.
NASCAR Cup Series
Richmond Raceway – Richmond, VA
Federated Auto Parts 400 – August 13, 2022
Saturday’s Qualifying Results
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
1. 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 23.042 117.177
2. 1 Ross Chastain Moose Fraternity Chevrolet 23.100 116.883
3. 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Freight Toyota 23.179 116.485
4. 24 William Byron Liberty University Chevrolet 23.182 116.470
5. 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 23.199 116.384
6. 19 Martin Truex, Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota 23.235 116.204
7. 41 Cole Custer Jacob Construction Ford 23.248 116.139
8. 6 Brad Keselowski RoushParts.com Ford 23.255 116.104
9. 43 Erik Jones FOCUSfactor Chevrolet 23.263 116.064
10. 12 Ryan Blaney BodyArmor Ford 23.319 115.785
11. 23 Bubba Wallace leidos Toyota 22.989 117.447
12. 3 Austin Dillon Huk Performance Fishing Chevrolet 23.086 116.954
13. 4 Kevin Harvick Mobil 1 Ford 23.101 116.878
14. 45 Ty Gibbs(i) Jordan Brand Toyota 23.118 116.792
15. 14 Chase Briscoe HighPoint.com Ford 23.138 116.691
16. 38 Todd Gilliland # The Pete Store Ford 23.159 116.585
17. 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 23.165 116.555
18. 17 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford 23.172 116.520
19. 16 Noah Gragson(i) Chevy Accessories Chevrolet 23.207 116.344
20. 47 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Kroger/Kleenex Chevrolet 23.223 116.264
21. 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 23.265 116.054
22. 42 Ty Dillon Allegiant Chevrolet 23.265 116.054
23. 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 23.306 115.850
24. 99 Daniel Suarez CommScope Chevrolet 23.344 115.661
25. 77 Landon Cassill(i) Voyager: Crypto for All Chevrolet 23.364 115.562
26. 8 Tyler Reddick 3CHI Chevrolet 23.505 114.869
27. 31 Justin Haley LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 23.539 114.703
28. 51 Cody Ware Nurtec ODT Ford 23.555 114.625
29. 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota 23.581 114.499
30. 21 Harrison Burton # Menards/Dutch Boy Ford 23.705 113.900
31. 7 Corey LaJoie Built.com Chevrolet 23.710 113.876
32. 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 23.767 113.603
33. 2 Austin Cindric # Menards/Duracell Ford 23.781 113.536
34. 34 Michael McDowell Chicago Pneumatic Compressors Ford 23.814 113.379
35. 15 J.J. Yeley(i) Ford 24.268 111.258
36. 78 B.J. McLeod(i) Blaster Ford 0.000 0.000
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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