Larson earns third straight NASCAR Cup pole, beating Gibbs at Texas

Larson was the only driver to break into the 28.3s in the final round of qualifying, earning his 19th career pole. It was another milestone for Hendrick Motorsports, capturing its 250th pole in the Cup Series.

“Cool to get three poles in a row,” said Larson. “I said on the radio after the first one, that was about the most intense thing you can do …  It’s so on edge and you know how much throttle time you have to have to run fast. It’s just sketchy. 

“But yeah, that was cool. 250th pole also for Hendrick Motorsports in the Cup Series, which is amazing and glad I can contribute to some sort of numbers since William [Byron] has been stealing all the thunder here lately. Just a great day and really, really happy to get a pole. Since we’ve gone to the Next Gen car, this has been a place where I’ve really struggled with qualifying. Like committing into Turn 1 and I told myself I was going to commit today, and it paid off. Happy about that.”

Austin Cindric was the first driver out in the final round and got very close to the wall on the exit of Turn 2. Toyota drivers rocketed to the top of the charts with Ty Gibbs leading the way halfway through the round. 

Martin Truex Jr. was the first Group B driver to run, and he was unable to beat any of the Group A drivers. It was a similar story for the drivers who followed him.

However, it was who Larson broke that trend in a big way, going fastest of all and taking pole position for Hendrick Motorsports. He beat Gibbs by 0.035s to P1. 

Christopher Bell will start third, Tyler Reddick fourth, and Chase Briscoe fifth. Byron, Ryan Blaney, Cindric, Truex, and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top-ten.

Round 1 / Group A

Three Toyotas and two Penske drivers advanced from Group A qualifying. Reddick led the way with a 28.357s lap, ahead of Gibbs, Blaney, Bell, and Cindric.

Ross Chastain was the first driver to miss out, 0.020s shy of advancing. He will start 12th. Alex Bowman will start 14th, Carson Hocevar 16th, Zane Smith 18th, and Joey Logano 20th. Notables starting deeper in the field will be Brad Keselowski (22nd) and Chase Elliott (24th).

Round 1 / Group B

Johnson and Busch did not take part in qualifying after damaging their cars in practice. 

Larson led the way with a 28.338s lap. Briscoe, Byron, Wallace, and Truex joined him in the final round.

Denny Hamlin will start 11th on the grid as he was the first among the drivers who failed to advance, 0.058s shy. Michael McDowell will start 13th, Austin Dillon 15th, Daniel Suarez 17th, and Chris Buescher 19th.