NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott will line up next to each for Sunday’s Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.
Larson and Elliott are set to start third and fourth in the 300-lap race, respectively, following NASCAR Cup Series qualifying. A rain shower brough qualifying to an end after just one round of the usual two-round event. The reigning champion posted a lap of 159.963 mph to be the top Chevrolet on the grid, while the driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 had a lap of 159.931 mph.
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Alex Bowman just missed on advancing to the next round of qualifying and he will start 12th in the No. 48 Ally Music City Chevy. Just behind him will be his teammate William Byron, who will line up 13th in the No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro. The Charlotte, North Carolina, native finished third in this race last year.
Denny Hamlin earned the pole position for the Ally 400.
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In Friday’s practice session, Larson (fourth) and Byron (fifth) placed in the top five. Additionally, both drivers were in the top six on the 10-lap average board with the driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro second and the two-time winner in 2022 sixth in that category.
This year’s race marks the second Cup event at the 1.33-mile track. Larson dominated last year’s race as he led 264 laps en route to the victory. Sunday’s race marks the first of four races that will see Kevin Meendering filling in as the crew chief for Larson and the No. 5 team. Crew chief Cliff Daniels, jackman Brandon Johnson and front-tire changer Donnie Tasser were suspended by NASCAR after the team inadvertently lost its right-front tire during the final stage of the Cup race at Sonoma Raceway. On the pit crew side of things, Allen Holman will fill in as the jackman on the No. 5 team and Blaine Anderson will take front-tire changer duties.
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Tune in to the Ally 400 on Sunday afternoon at 5 p.m. ET on NBC with coverage also on Peacock, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.