Kyle Larson won his first pole of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season Saturday (March 31) at Richmond Raceway. He’ll set the pace for Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 thanks to a lap at 120.332 mph. It is Larson’s 17th pole of his Cup Series career.
Larson set the fastest lap over his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott, who clocked in at a speed of 120.321 mph, a .011 mph difference between the front two.
The Chevrolets of Ross Chastain and Alex Bowman filled the second row. Bowman ended up scraping the outside wall during his final run. Bubba Wallace was the fastest Toyota, qualifying fifth.
Todd Gilliland, the fastest Ford, posted his best qualifying finish at a non-superspeedway in sixth. Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, and the Team Penske drivers of Austin Cindric and Joey Logano rounded out the top 10.
In the first round of qualifying, Logano was fastest in Group A at 120.895 mph. Elliott was fastest in Group B at 122.095 mph. Between the two rounds, the track sat in the sun. That, combined with the tire wear from the first round, meant that everyone slowed down by a minimum of three-tenths of a second from the first round to the second.
Larson was also fastest in practice, turning in a lap at 121.836 in Group A of practice. Michael McDowell, who was 14th overall, was fastest in Group B.
Only the 36 chartered entries entered the race. Therefore, all 36 entries will race tomorrow (March 31).
The Cup Series field will take the green flag at Richmond on Easter Sunday, March 31 at 7 p.m. ET. Broadcasting will be provided by FOX.
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