AVONDALE, Ariz. – Kyle Larson will chase his first NASCAR Cup Series championship from the pole Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.
The driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet earned the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race via qualifying Saturday by virtue of his 26.116-second lap at 137.847 mph.
LINEUP: NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race
“It was nice to go out second-to-last and have a benchmark to shoot for, ” Larson told NBC Sports. “Really good to get a pole and help out pit stall selection, so that’s nice. It’ll be good to go from pit stop No. 1. Really happy with our Hendrickcars.com Chevy. It was really weird having practice yesterday. I think all of our confidence was probably less after it. So good to come here and get a pole and, you know, get the weekend started off on the right foot. Still a long day tomorrow and the track will go through a big change. It already looks different that what I’m familiar with. We’ll see how it goes.”
Larson’s teammate and championship rival Chase Elliott will start second after a 26.289-second lap. Denny Hamlin is scheduled to start sixth while Martin Truex Jr. will start 12th.