Larson Prevails In Closely Contested Bristol Qualifying

Kyle Larson, seen here from an earlier race weekend, scored the pole for Saturday night’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Photo by Josh Hedges/Getty Images

Kyle Larson, a close second to Kyle Busch in the 2018 spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway, took the first step toward avenging that loss – and a handful of others – with a pole-winning effort in Friday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series knockout qualifying session at the .533-mile short track.

In the final round, Larson covered the distance in 15.015 seconds (127.792 mph) to complete a sweep of the three rounds in the session.

In winning his first Busch Pole Award at Thunder Valley, his third of the season and the seventh of his career, Larson edged Chase Elliott (127.665 mph) by .015 seconds to earn the top starting spot in Saturday’s Bristol Night Race.

Kyle Busch, a seven-time winner at Bristol, qualified third at 127.639 mph. Paul Menard was fourth and Suncoco Rookie of the Year contender William Byron fifth in a session so tightly contested that the top five qualifiers were separated by a mere .028 seconds.

Byron posted his final-round time first, 15.043 seconds, good for 127.554 mph. Larson took notice.

“I saw William run his ‘04’ there, and I was like, ‘That’s going to be pretty tough to beat,’” said Larson, who ran his best lap (127.946 mph) in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet in the first round. “I would have never thought that three other guys would squeeze in between him and I for first and second. It just shows how tough our sport is and our series is.

“But our DC Solar Chevy has been really good all day. I felt a little off in the first practice, but we got it going in the second practice, and then it was fast in every round of qualifying. It’s my favorite track. We have yet to get a win here. We’ve been close so many times. I feel like Kyle (Busch) and I are two best here, but he always seems to edge me out.”

In fact, in NASCAR Xfinity and Cup series races at all tracks combined, Larson and Busch have finished 1-2 eight times. Busch has won all eight of those contests.

“Hopefully, this weekend’s a little different,” Larson said.

Elliott was disappointed at losing the pole – and the No. 1 pit stall that goes with it – by such a small margin.

“You have to be really close to perfect, if not perfect here,” Elliott said. “It’s so hard to be good for 500 laps, but that’s what it takes.

“I really wanted that first pit box. That makes such a huge difference here. If there’s any place that it makes a difference, it’s here.”

Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch and Ryan Blaney claimed positions six through 10 on the grid, respectively.

Brad Keselowski qualified 11th and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., who needs a victory in the next three races to qualify for the Playoffs, grabbed the 12th starting spot.

Notes: Ford drivers claimed seven of the top 12 starting positions… Jimmie Johnson failed to advance to the final round by .001 seconds, losing out to Stenhouse… The fifth-place effort was the best of Byron’s fledgling Cup career… Alex Bowman, currently protecting the final Playoff berth on points, scraped the outside wall in the second round of qualifying and will start 22nd.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Bristol Motor Speedway – Bristol, TN
Bristol Night Race – August 17, 2018

Friday’s Qualifying Results

1. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 127.792 mph.
2. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 127.665 mph.
3. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 127.639 mph.
4. (21) Paul Menard, Ford, 127.605 mph.
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6. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 127.039 mph.
7. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 126.896 mph.
8. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford, 126.880 mph.
9. (41) Kurt Busch, Ford, 126.863 mph.
10. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 126.762 mph.
11. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 126.253 mph.
12. (17) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Ford, 125.988 mph.
13. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 125.922 mph.
14. (20) Erik Jones, Toyota, 125.856 mph.
15. (38) David Ragan, Ford, 125.691 mph.
16. (14) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 125.675 mph.
17. (78) Martin Truex, Jr., Toyota, 125.650 mph.
18. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 125.592 mph.
19. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 125.461 mph.
20. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 125.404 mph.
21. (19) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 125.363 mph.
22. (88) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 125.117 mph.
23. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 125.068 mph.
24. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 124.347 mph.
25. (47) A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 124.897 mph.
26. (95) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 124.387 mph.
27. (43) Darrell Wallace, Jr. #, Chevrolet, 124.315 mph.
28. (37) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 124.210 mph.
29. (32) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 124.066 mph.
30. (72) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 123.937 mph.
31. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford, 123.682 mph.
32. (13) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 123.261 mph.
33. (96) Jesse Little(i), Toyota, 122.310 mph.
34. (7) J.J. Yeley(i), Chevrolet, 121.798 mph.
35. (15) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 121.767 mph.
36. (51) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 121.274 mph.
37. (66) Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, 120.816 mph.
38. (99) Gray Gaulding, Chevrolet, 120.687 mph.
39. (00) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 120.407 mph.
40. (23) Blake Jones, Toyota, 119.173 mph.