Kyle Larson Will Start From Pole Position On Bristol Dirt

Kyle Larson, seen here from an earlier race weekend, will start from the pole in Sunday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Photo: Meg Oliphant/Getty Images

It didn’t take long for Kyle Larson to assert his superiority on the dirt track at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Starting sixth in the third of four 15-lap qualifying heat races, Larson had stormed into the lead before the end of the first lap and held off charging Ryan Preece for a wire-to-wire victory.

The combination of finishing position and passing points gave Larson 15 total points, good for the pole position for Sunday’s Food City Dirt Race at Thunder Valley.

Larson will start beside Austin Dillon, who drove from fifth to first in the opening heat race, scoring 14 points. Dirt specialist J.J. Yeley earned the third spot on the grid, driving from ninth to third behind Larson and Preece to earn 14 points in the third heat.

From the start of the third heat race, the top lane opened up for Larson, who passed fourth-place starter Matt Crafton and took full advantage when second-place Corey LaJoie dropped to the bottom lane.

That left only Erik Jones to overtake, and Larson did so expeditiously.

“The outside lane launched really well, and my car turned well enough to stay rotated and get by him,” Larson explained.

Christopher Bell, who ran third from eighth in the first heat, will start on the outside of the second row. Defending race winner Kyle Busch will take the green flag from the fifth position, with Tyler Reddick to his outside.

Austin Cindric, Preece, Heat 2 winner Ryan Blaney and William Byron earned positions seven through 10, respectively. Heat 4 winner Bubba Wallace is 11th on the grid, having won the qualifier from the pole.

Dirt late model superstar Jonathan Davenport from Blairsville, Georgia will make his Cup Series debut from the 21st position after starting second and finishing fourth in the final heat.

NASCAR Cup Series
Bristol Motor Speedway – Bristol, TN
Food City Dirt Race – April 8, 2023

Sunday’s Starting Line Up

Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
1. 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
2. 3 Austin Dillon BREZTRI Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
3. 15 J.J. Yeley(i) Public Sq. Ford 0.000 0.000
4. 20 Christopher Bell DeWalt Power Stack Toyota 0.000 0.000
5. 8 Kyle Busch Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
6. 45 Tyler Reddick SiriusXM Radio Toyota 0.000 0.000
7. 2 Austin Cindric Discount Tire Ford 0.000 0.000
8. 41 Ryan Preece United Rentals Ford 0.000 0.000
9. 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Maytag Ford 0.000 0.000
10. 24 William Byron RaptorTough.com Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
11. 23 Bubba Wallace McDonald’s/Dr Pepper Toyota 0.000 0.000
12. 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 0.000 0.000
13. 34 Michael McDowell Love’s Travel Stops Ford 0.000 0.000
14. 14 Chase Briscoe Magical Vacation Planner Ford 0.000 0.000
15. 38 Todd Gilliland Speedy Cash Ford 0.000 0.000
16. 1 Ross Chastain AdventHealth Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
17. 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
18. 43 Erik Jones Club Wyndham Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
19. 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 0.000 0.000
20. 21 Harrison Burton DEX Imaging Ford 0.000 0.000
21. 13 Jonathan Davenport Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
22. 47 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Kroger/Irish Spring Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
23. 54 Ty Gibbs # Interstate Batteries Toyota 0.000 0.000
24. 51 Matt Crafton(i) Biohaven/Jacob Co. Ford 0.000 0.000
25. 31 Justin Haley Tide Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
26. 4 Kevin Harvick Busch Light Ford 0.000 0.000
27. 19 Martin Truex, Jr. Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota 0.000 0.000
28. 17 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford 0.000 0.000
29. 16 A.J. Allmendinger Gain Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
30. 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 0.000 0.000
31. 9 Josh Berry(i) Hooters Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
32. 77 Ty Dillon Ferris Commercial Mowers Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
33. 6 Brad Keselowski King’s Hawaiian Ford 0.000 0.000
34. 99 Daniel Suarez Jockey Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
35. 7 Corey LaJoie NationsGuard Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
36. 42 Noah Gragson # Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
37. 78 B.J. McLeod Gunk Chevrolet 0.000 0.000