Kyle Larson captures Busch Pole Award for Coca-Cola 600
Kyle Larson topped the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying leaderboard Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, snagging the first starting position for the annual Coca-Cola 600.
The No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet posted a 180.282-mph lap around the 1.5-mile track in Concord, North Carolina. Larson knocked teammate Chase Elliott off the top spot, and then Ricky Stenhouse Jr. from JTG Daugherty Racing pushed Elliott down another peg.
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“It definitely helps confidence,” said Larson, who seeks his second Cup Series victory of the season. “I feel like we were pretty fast in race trim yesterday and now getting the pole and starting up front is going to be really important. It looked like a pretty tough track to pass on last year. And too, with an added stage, there‘s more opportunity to gain points and gain another Playoff point for the end of the season. So, starting from the front is definitely important. I hope we can have a great day and tomorrow night and keep up with the race track and how it‘s changing and lead the whole race is my goal.”
Stenhouse’s No. 47 Chevy clocked a 180.24-mph circuit for second best. Elliott’s No. 9 came in at 180.186 mph for third.
William Byron (Hendrick Motorsports) and Kevin Harvick (Stewart-Haas Racing) were fourth and fifth, respectively. The top four spots were swept by Chevrolet drivers.
Austin Dillon, whose No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet topped Friday’s practice leaderboard, qualified sixth. Alex Bowman, Martin Truex Jr., Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain rounded out the top 10 in order.
The Coca-Cola 600 is Sunday at 6 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
