Kyle Larson commenced his double-duty weekend at Sonoma Raceway on the right foot by winning the pole position for the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ inaugural DoorDash 250 at Sonoma on Saturday, June 10.
The 2021 Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, posted a pole-winning lap at 91.393 mph in 78.387 seconds in the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. It was enough for him to best 40 competitors vying for 38 starting spots on the grid as he will lead the field to the start of the series’ first-ever event at the 12-turn, windy circuit in Northern California.
The pole award was Larson’s first of this season as he will be making his second Xfinity start of the 2023 campaign, but first in the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro entry. It also marked his first pole since Road America in July 2022 and the sixth of his Xfinity career. The last time Larson competed in the Xfinity Series was this past May at Darlington Raceway, where he piloted the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro to a thrilling last-lap victory over John Hunter Nemechek.
“[The qualifying lap] was really good,” Larson said on FS1. “I feel like I got through most areas really well. I felt like, maybe, I over-slowed [Turn] 3 some, maybe over-slowed entry of [Turn] 4, but other than that, I felt really good. [The pit crew has] done an amazing job on this car. Every time they bring the No. 17 [Chevrolet] out, it’s fast. I knew we were gonna have a quick car. It’s up to the driver at this point to just put it all together. It’s been fun, though, so far this weekend. Hopefully, we can give [owner Rick Hendrick] another good run today.”
Larson will share the front row with veteran Justin Allgaier, who posted the second-fastest qualifying lap at 90.562 mph in 79.106 seconds. With Allgaier having made two previous Cup starts at Sonoma in 2014 and 2015, Saturday afternoon’s Xfinity event will mark Allgaier’s first career start in an Xfinity car.
Sheldon Creed, a native of Alpine, California, will line up in third place after posting a fast-qualifying lap at 90.429 mph in 79.222 seconds. He will be followed by Aric Almirola and AJ Allmendinger, both of whom join pole-sitter Larson as double-duty competitors between this weekend’s Xfinity-Cup doubleheader feature.
Sam Mayer will start in sixth place while Ty Gibbs, Daniel Hemric, John Hunter Nemechek and rookie Sammy Smith, all of whom contended for pole position in the final qualifying round, will start in the top 10. Alex Labbe and Parker Kligerman will start 11th and 12th, respectively.
Notably, Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez and Ty Dillon, all of whom join Larson, Almirola, Allmendinger and Ty Gibbs as Cup Series competitors performing double-duty roles for this weekend’s Xfinity-Cup feature, will start 15th, 17th and 32nd, respectively. In addition, Cole Custer, a native of Ladera Ranch, California, and winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at Portland International Raceway will start 26th.
With 41 competitors vying for 38 spots, Brennan Poole, Leland Honeyman and Mason Filippi were the three competitors who failed to qualify.
Qualifying position, speed, time
1. Kyle Larson, 91.393 mph, 78.387 seconds
2. Justin Allgaier, 90.562 mph, 79.106 seconds
3. Sheldon Creed, 90.429 mph, 79.222 seconds
4. Aric Almirola, 90.375 mph, 79.270 seconds
5. AJ Allmendinger, 90.274 mph, 79.358 seconds
6. Sam Mayer, 90.210 mph, 79.415 seconds
7. Ty Gibbs, 90.172 mph, 79.448 seconds
8. Daniel Hemric, 90.017 mph, 79.585 seconds
9. John Hunter Nemechek, 89.918 mph, 79.673 seconds
10. Sammy Smith, 89.780 mph, 79.795 seconds
11. Alex Labbe, 89.886 mph, 79.701 seconds
12. Parker Kligerman, 89.872 mph, 79.713 seconds
13. Austin Hill, 89.868 mph, 79.717 seconds
14. Brett Moffitt, 89.868 mph, 79.717 seconds
15. Ross Chastain, 89.550 mph, 80.000 seconds
16. Parker Retzlaff, 89.549 mph, 80.001 seconds
17. Daniel Suarez, 89.512 mph, 80.034 seconds
18. Kyle Weatherman, 89444 mph, 80.095 seconds
19. Josh Berry, 89.377 mph, 80.155 seconds
20. Chandler Smith, 89.310 mph, 80.215 seconds
21. Sage Karam, 89.232 mph, 80.285 seconds
22. Josh Williams, 89.214 mph, 80.301 seconds
23. Riley Herbst, 89.130 mph, 80.377 seconds
24. Jeremy Clements, 88.942 mph, 80.547 seconds
25. Josh Bilicki, 88.898 mph, 80.587 seconds
26. Cole Custer, 88.850 mph, 80.630 seconds
27. Kaz Grala, 88.658 mph, 80.805 seconds
28. Brandon Jones, 88.650 mph, 80.812 seconds
29. Connor Mosack, 88.644 mph, 80.818 seconds
30. Jeb Burton, 88.591 mph, 80.866 seconds
31. Brad Perez, 88.510 mph, 80.940 seconds
32. Ty Dillon, 88.444 mph, 81.000 seconds
33. Dylan Lupton, 88.390 mph, 81.050 seconds
34. Ryan Sieg, owner points
35. Jeffrey Earnhardt, owner points
36. Blaine Perkins, owner points
37. Anthony Alfredo, owner points
38. Joe Graf Jr., owner points
With the starting lineup set, the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ inaugural running of the 2023 DoorDash 250 at Sonoma Raceway is set to occur on Saturday, June 10, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.
