NASCAR Cup Series

Kyle Larson won the pole for Saturday’s Monster Energy All-Star Race with a 143.839-mph average speed over three laps and a four-tire pit stop on Friday; Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch completed the top five

CONCORD, N.C. — Kyle Larson stormed to the Coors Light Pole Award on Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway, taming the unique qualifying format to earn the No. 1 starting spot for Saturday’s Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

A loose lug nut and the corresponding five-second penalty that went with it cost Martin Truex Jr. an opportunity to compete for the pole position during qualifying for Saturday night’s non-points NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Flawless execution earned Kyle Larson and the No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS team the pole for Saturday night’s Monster Energy All Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Larson’s first career victory at Michigan International Speedway in August 2016 earned him a spot in the All-Star event lineup. Today’s lap of 143.839 mph was not the quickest combination of the three lap average and pit stop time, but mistakes by other competitors now places him in the pole position for the start of the million-dollar non-points event on Saturday night.

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – Pole Winner: “I decided I might not change because if I ended up second they’ll probably want an interview. So, I stayed in the (drivers) suit; so yeah, that’s pretty cool. It’s my first time doing this. It’s nice that we had a second round there to get a second tenth out of that. I picked up some time there. This was all about not making mistakes. Everybody but us made mistakes in that last round. So, I am proud of everybody on this Target Chevy team, especially our pit crew. Our pit crew saved me in that first round to get us into this second round. And getting the pole is pretty sweet. It’s so much fun. I’ve been wanting to do that. It’s my fourth season in Cup now and I have wanted to do it every year.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI – No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – HOW DO YOU SIZE UP THE ALL-STAR RACE? “It’s a race that’s always been about change. It’s about trying new things. It’s a good chance for the sport to expand its horizons and I think it’s gonna do just that with the new tire compound option rule.”

Up first, the co-owner of Richard Petty Motorsports was watching his 9th grade son playing with 12 graders in an AAU basketball game that was tied with five seconds left. The young man took the inbounds pass, faked left and went right.

Roush Fenway Racing will host its annual spring fan day at its headquarters in Concord, N.C. on Thursday, May 25. The event is open to the public and will feature autograph sessions with each of Roush Fenway’s drivers.

Regan Smith will be filling in this weekend as driver of the No. 43 Smithfield Ford Fusion for the injured Aric Alimrola. Smith spoke to the media this afternoon about the opportunity. REGAN SMITH – No. 43 Smithfield Ford Fusion – WHEN DID YOU GET THE CALL? “Roughly Wednesday morning, right around there. It was something like that. I didn’t know much until then. Obviously, I knew that he was hurt, but didn’t know to what extreme or anything like that."

TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO MILITARY CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Charlotte Motor Speedway and discussed coming to Charlotte Motor Speedway as a kid, running double duty, his team’s performance thus far, the Rookie of the Year points battle and many other topics.