BRISTOL, Tenn. – With a quick drive from sixth to first in one lap in his heat race, Kyle Larson earned the pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
PHOTOS: See scenes from Larson's pole at Bristol
Starting sixth in the third heat race, Larson wasted no time taking the lead in the 15-lap race. The driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 led the rest of the way to not only win the heat race, but also the pole position thanks to his combination of race finishing points (10 for the win) and passing points (five since he went from sixth to first).
"I had a good launch on him (Matt Crafton) and got to the outside of him. Then, Corey (LaJoie) went to the bottom of (turn) three. I had a run down the backstretch and was able to get to his outside. It just kind of worked out that the outside lane launched really well and my car turned well enough to stay rotated to get by them," Larson said of how he got to the lead so fast.
The pole is Larson’s second of the season and the 16th of his Cup Series career. For Hendrick Motorsports, it is the 243rd pole in team history.
Last weekend’s winner at Richmond Raceway is no stranger to success on dirt. The 30-year-old rose up through the dirt racing ranks before making his way to NASCAR. He showcased his dirt expertise in his 2016 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win at Eldora Speedway. In 2021, Larson won many marquee dirt races including the Chili Bowl (of which he is a two-time winner), Kings Royal, Prairie Dirt Classic and the Knoxville Nationals. The champion of the 2021 Cup Series continues to compete on dirt tracks in addition to this NASCAR schedule.
RELATED: Larson, Byron ready for uniqueness of dirt race
William Byron will start 10th in the No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. He started fifth in the second heat race and drove up to third to earn a total of 10 race finishing points and passing points. Alex Bowman is set to line up 17th in the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. The 29-year-old started the first heat race from the second position and finished fourth.
Josh Berry, who will make his fifth start filling in for the sidelined Chase Elliott, will start 31st in the No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. While Elliott continues to recover from a fractured tibia, Berry is coming off his best Cup Series finish – a second-place result at Richmond. The NASCAR Xfinity Series regular for Hendrick Motorsports affiliate JR Motorsports spun out in the opening heat race and went on to finish eighth.
The four qualifying heat races set the lineup for Sunday's 250-lap main event on the Bristol dirt. In the qualifying heats, drivers were awarded race finishing position points and passing points. The driver with the most combined points earned the pole position. The race finishing position points were awarded from 10 points for first in each qualifying race to one point for 10th or two points for ninth (depending on how many cars are in a particular heat race). Passing points are the difference between the assigned starting position and finishing position. If a driver moved forward in the qualifying heat, they earned passing points. If a driver went backward or finished where they started, no passing points were awarded.
RELATED: Learn more about the format for the Bristol dirt race
In last year's dirt race at Bristol, Hendrick Motorsports placed three of its drivers in the top 10. Larson finished a team-best fourth and won stage one. Bowman placed sixth and Elliott took eighth. The organization is the only one to have at least three drivers finish in the top 10 there. In the inaugural running of the dirt race in 2021, Byron finished sixth, while Elliott took home a 10th-place result. The team's five top-10 finishes are the most among all teams in the two years of this event.
The Bristol dirt race is one of eight events to be run under the lights this season. Last year saw the organization win two of the six night races run, which was tied for the most in the series. Byron won at Martinsville Speedway in April, while Elliott won at Nashville Superspeedway in June.
Tune in to watch all the action on the dirt on Easter Sunday, April 9, at 7 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
