Kyle Larson wins pole position for Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond
For the second time in his career, Kyle Larson is going to start on the pole at Richmond. He was fastest in NASCAR Cup Series qualifying. Teammate Chase Elliott almost beat him for the top spot, but the No. 5 Chevy held on.
It will be an all-Hendrick front row on Sunday. This was a pretty good qualifying session for HMS as a whole. Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, and Kyle Larson all have great speed. Larson won this race a year ago, is he ready to do it again?
This is the 17th career pole away for Larson. While his teammate William Byron stole headlines last week, this week Larson is trying to be the headline.
Kyle Larson can be absolutely dominant on short tracks. These are just the tracks he loves to race. Being methodical, hitting your marks, finding the groove that is fastest when you need it, running the wall when you need it – all of that plays to Larson’s strengths.
Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman, Bubba Wallace, Todd Gilliland, Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, Austin Cindric, and Joey Logano make up the rest of the top-10. Gibbs and Bowman have been on a hot streak lately, they are two to watch for tomorrow.
Wallace ties his best qualifying effort at Richmond. He started P5 in the Richmond playoff race last year as well. He is also the first Toyota and non-Chevy in the lineup today.
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Kyle Larson leads a strong Hendrick trio
Three Hendrick Motorsports drivers in the top-10 in qualifying. Kyle Larson leads that trio with Elliott and Bowman not far behind. Even though William Byron didn’t get into that final qualifying round, he will start P13 today, not bad for a driver who led laps last year in this race.
I think that this could get ugly quickly. The Hendrick cars are going to be strong. Even though Elliott wasn’t in the car, Josh Berry drove the No. 9 to a P2 finish in this race a year ago. Both of those teams have the data they need to get their cars ready to race for a win on Sunday.
Larson already has a win this season from Las Vegas. He was P5 at Bristol. There have been a couple of races where he hasn’t gotten the result he would have liked to have. However, all things considered, Larson has been one of the most consistent drivers in the Cup Series early in the season.
We know how good Kyle Larson is. He’s a champion of the sport. Having won at Richmond a year ago and given his strengths on short tracks, he might be on his way to another win.