Kyle Larson made this weekend’s 40th anniversary race for Hendrick Motorsports at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway more special by claiming pole position for Sunday’s Cook Out 400.
The driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet was fastest in qualifying on Saturday, posting a lap time of 19.718 seconds. He was the last car to hit the track in the session and narrowly beat out 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace for the top spot on the timesheets.
“I don’t think probably any of us four (Hendrick) drivers feel any more pressure to win, but we know what the magnitude of a win this weekend would mean for the company. Yeah, I don’t think that’s any more pressure or any more emphasis on the weekend, but we all try to go out there and execute as good as we can every week and hopefully the results end up in a win,” Larson said.
Larson is also the defending Martinsville winner — another credential to keep in his back pocket on Sunday.
Wallace set a 19.719-second lap in his No. 23 Toyota and will start on the outside of the front row.
Hendrick driver Chase Elliott qualified third, with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe completing the top five in Saturday afternoon’s session.
“In qualifying, I was amazed we held on in the first round. I thought for sure we were going to be knocked out and we ended up second somehow. I am happy with it,” Briscoe said. “I don’t think I would have beat what the 23 just ran or the 5 but I think we are in the hunt. We needed to start in the top 10 for sure and it is nice that we are inside of the top five.”
Joey Logano, Josh Berry, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney and Alex Bowman also finished inside the top 10.