Kyle Larson won the Busch Light Pole award at Richmond Raceway Saturday evening with a 117.177 mph lap in his Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet.
It’s his third NASCAR Cup Series pole of the season and the 13th of his career.
Larson was the final driver to qualify in the second round and he described how he thought he gained enough speed to outpace Ross Chastain for the pole.
“Even though I got into (turn) one too hard and a little bit sideways, I am imagining that is where I made up my time,” he said. “Just getting in really deep and I think getting it under control before I got to the exit is probably where I made up the lap time. I don’t know though, it could be three and four. Who knows? But I felt like I got in deep, too deep for sure, but it worked out.“
TrackHouse Racing’s Ross Chastain, who was fastest during practice, will start beside Larson on the front row after posting a lap at 116.883 mph. Denny Hamlin (116.485 mph) was third fastest in qualifying in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota with Hendrick Motorsports drivers William Byron (116.470 mph) and Alex Bowman (116.384 mph) rounding out the top five starters.
Martin Truex Jr. will begin the Federated Auto Parts 400 race in sixth followed by Cole Custer, Brad Keselowski, Erik Jones and Ryan Blaney to complete the top 10.
With only three races remaining in the regular season, there have already been 15 different winners in the Cup Series. Two top contenders for the final spot in the Playoffs are Blaney and Truex, but neither driver has won this year. Blaney currently occupies the final place with a 19-point advantage over Truex. Truex, however, has three previous wins at Richmond.
Todd Gilliland, who was the fastest rookie in qualifying, will start in 16th place.
The Federated Auto Parts 400 is set for Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on the USA Network with radio coverage on MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Starting Lineup:
