Kyle Larson claimed his first pole position of the 2024 season Saturday afternoon to lead an all-Hendrick Motorsports front row for Sunday’s Toyota Owner’s 400 at Richmond Raceway (7 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Larson’s time of 22.438 seconds (120.332 mph) just bettered his teammate Chase Elliott’s mark of 22.440 seconds (120.321 mph) around the three-quarter mile Richmond oval – good enough to earn the 2021 Cup Series champion and defending Richmond race winner the 17th pole position of his career.
“Definitely helps for sure,” Larson said of his effort. “Having the No. 1 pit stall here means a lot. So happy to do that. Happy to be in Group A for sure, and then the sun coming out a little bit there helps.
“Chase got real close there, so I was a bit nervous. Awesome day for Hendrick Motorsports. … Good to be on the pole. We’ll see if it translates in tomorrow’s race.”
RELATED: Starting lineup | At-track photos
Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain will start third, followed by Hendrick driver Alex Bowman and 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace.
Front Row Motorsports’ Todd Gilliland, Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs, and Team Penske teammates Austin Cindric and Joey Logano rounded out the top-10 qualifiers at Richmond.
Logano’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford had been fastest in Group A during first-round qualifying, as had Elliott, whose 122.095 mph lap was quickest overall in the opening round.
Of note, Denny Hamlin just missed advancing to the second round in qualifying, and the four-time Richmond winner will start 11th in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, who posted the fastest 30-lap average speed in practice, will start 12th.
Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, last week’s winner at the Circuit of The Americas road course, will roll off 13th. He is the first multi-race winner of the season, with victories in the Daytona 500 and COTA. He’ll start alongside RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher, the summer Richmond race winner last season.
Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch, who leads all active drivers with six Richmond victories, will start 15th.
Practice recap
Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was quickest in practice at 121.836 mph over Joey Logano (121.490 mph) and Chris Buescher (121.463 mph).
MORE: Practice results
John Hunter Nemechek (121.403 mph) and Alex Bowman (121.354 mph) completed the top five.
The remaining top 10 fastest drivers in practice were Ty Gibbs (121.277 mph), Ryan Blaney (121.207 mph), Josh Berry (120.849 mph), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (120.530 mph) and Justin Haley (120.417 mph).