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Qualifying report

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

Kyle Larson earned pole position at Texas Motor Speedway, scoring his third consecutive NASCAR Cup Series pole this year. He also captured pole position at Richmond Raceway and Martinsville Speedway.

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports, HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro

Photo by: Ben Earp / NKP / Motorsport Images

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.

CLA DRIVER # MANUFACTURER LAPS TIME INTERVAL MPH
1 K. LarsonHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 5 Chevrolet 1

28.366

  190.369
2
T. GibbsJOE GIBBS RACING
54 Toyota 1

+0.035

28.401

0.035 190.134
3 C. BellJOE GIBBS RACING 20 Toyota 1

+0.051

28.417

0.016 190.027
4 T. Reddick23XI RACING 45 Toyota 1

+0.084

28.450

0.033 189.807
5 C. BriscoeSTEWART-HAAS RACING 14 Ford 1

+0.092

28.458

0.008 189.753
6 W. ByronHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 24 Chevrolet 1

+0.098

28.464

0.006 189.713
7 R. BlaneyTEAM PENSKE 12 Ford 1

+0.114

28.480

0.016 189.607
8 A. CindricTEAM PENSKE 2 Ford 1

+0.116

28.482

0.002 189.593
9 M. Truex JrJOE GIBBS RACING 19 Toyota 1

+0.162

28.528

0.046 189.288
10 B. Wallace23XI RACING 23 Toyota 1

+0.316

28.682

0.154 188.271

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).

CLA DRIVER # MANUFACTURER LAPS TIME INTERVAL MPH
1 T. Reddick23XI RACING 45 Toyota 1

28.357

  190.429
2
T. GibbsJOE GIBBS RACING
54 Toyota 1

+0.052

28.409

0.052 190.081
3 R. BlaneyTEAM PENSKE 12 Ford 1

+0.104

28.461

0.052 189.733
4 C. BellJOE GIBBS RACING 20 Toyota 1

+0.145

28.502

0.041 189.460
5 A. CindricTEAM PENSKE 2 Ford 1

+0.165

28.522

0.020 189.328
6 R. ChastainTRACKHOUSE RACING 1 Chevrolet 1

+0.185

28.542

0.020 189.195
7 A. BowmanHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 48 Chevrolet 1

+0.208

28.565

0.023 189.043
8
C. HocevarSPIRE MOTORSPORTS
77 Chevrolet 1

+0.215

28.572

0.007 188.996
9
Z. SmithSPIRE MOTORSPORTS
71 Chevrolet 1

+0.277

28.634

0.062 188.587
10 J. LoganoTEAM PENSKE 22 Ford 1

+0.285

28.642

0.008 188.534
11 B. KeselowskiRFK RACING 6 Ford 1

+0.371

28.728

0.086 187.970
12 C. ElliottHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 9 Chevrolet 1

+0.385

28.742

0.014 187.878
13 R. PreeceSTEWART-HAAS RACING 41 Ford 1

+0.419

28.776

0.034 187.656
14 T. GillilandFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS 38 Ford 1

+0.510

28.867

0.091 187.065
15 J. NemechekLEGACY MOTOR CLUB 42 Toyota 1

+0.580

28.937

0.070 186.612
16 J. HaleyRICK WARE RACING 51 Ford 1

+0.597

28.954

0.017 186.503
17 A. HillRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING 33 Chevrolet 1

+0.615

28.972

0.018 186.387
18 T. DillonKAULIG RACING 16 Chevrolet 1

+0.662

29.019

0.047 186.085
19 D. HemricKAULIG RACING 31 Chevrolet 1

+0.750

29.107

0.088 185.522

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. 

CLA DRIVER # MANUFACTURER LAPS TIME INTERVAL MPH
1 K. LarsonHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 5 Chevrolet 1

28.338

  190.557
2 C. BriscoeSTEWART-HAAS RACING 14 Ford 1

+0.035

28.373

0.035 190.322
3 W. ByronHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 24 Chevrolet 1

+0.047

28.385

0.012 190.241
4 B. Wallace23XI RACING 23 Toyota 1

+0.086

28.424

0.039 189.980
5 M. Truex JrJOE GIBBS RACING 19 Toyota 1

+0.103

28.441

0.017 189.867
6 D. HamlinJOE GIBBS RACING 11 Toyota 1

+0.161

28.499

0.058 189.480
7 M. McDowellFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS 34 Ford 1

+0.163

28.501

0.002 189.467
8 A. DillonRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING 3 Chevrolet 1

+0.173

28.511

0.010 189.401
9 D. SuarezTRACKHOUSE RACING 99 Chevrolet 1

+0.183

28.521

0.010 189.334
10 C. BuescherRFK RACING 17 Ford 1

+0.184

28.522

0.001 189.328
11 N. GragsonSTEWART-HAAS RACING 10 Ford 1

+0.211

28.549

0.027 189.148
12 C. LajoieSPIRE MOTORSPORTS 7 Chevrolet 1

+0.315

28.653

0.104 188.462
13 J. BerrySTEWART-HAAS RACING 4 Ford 1

+0.341

28.679

0.026 188.291
14 E. JonesLEGACY MOTOR CLUB 43 Toyota 1

+0.351

28.689

0.010 188.225
15 H. BurtonWOOD BROTHERS RACING 21 Ford 1

+0.401

28.739

0.050 187.898
16 R. Stenhouse JrJTG DAUGHERTY RACING 47 Chevrolet 1

+0.437

28.775

0.036 187.663
17 K. GralaRICK WARE RACING 15 Ford 1

+0.578

28.916

0.141 186.748
18 J. JohnsonLEGACY MOTOR CLUB 84 Toyota 0

 

   
19 K. BuschRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING 8 Chevrolet 0

 

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