AUSTIN, Texas—Kyle Larson won the pole position for Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Circuit of The Americas (COTA).
Driving the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro, Larson set a new track record in the final round qualifying with a lap of 92.946 mph around the 20-turn, 3.41-mile road course in Austin, Texas.
PHOTOS: Check out the scenes for Larson and the No. 17 team from the weekend
"Really cool to get a pole here for HendrickCars.com," Larson told FOX Sports 1's Josh Sims shortly after qualifying was completed.
Saturday will be Larson's first of two starts in the 2024 Xfinity Series season for Hendrick Motorsports, with the second coming in July at the Chicago Street Course. Greg Ives, the 2014 Xfinity Series championship-winning crew chief with Hendrick Motorsports affiliate JR Motorsports, is the crew chief for this race.
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In the 20-minute practice session, Larson was third on the speed chart with a best lap of 90.669 mph in the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro.
"It was tough to get used to there in practice, but Greg (Ives) and everybody on this 17 car did a good job with adjustments," Larson said. "I felt better we went to the first round there in some of the areas where I struggled in practice."
Larson has 14 wins in the Xfinity Series, and he has earned a victory in each of the last two seasons of the series. For his career, the 31-year-old driver has 114 Xfinity starts with 56 top-five finishes, 80 top-10s and seven poles (including this one at COTA). In his last three road courses as the driver of the No. 17, Larson has earned the pole position (Road America in 2022 and Sonoma Raceway in 2023).
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The No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevy will be in action for 10 races this season. William Byron will run four races, with No. 24 lead engineer Brandon McSwain as the crew chief. Larson and Chase Elliott will run two events apiece, while Alex Bowman and Boris Said will each run one race. Ives will be the crew chief for those six races.
Since returning to the Xfinity Series in 2022, Hendrick Motorsports has had four pole awards (counting Larson's at COTA), three runner-up results, six top-five finishes, seven top-10s, and 139 laps led in 11 starts. One of those runner-up finishes came at COTA last year with Byron behind the wheel. The company has earned one Xfinity Series championship (2003) and 26 race wins.
The No. 17 car number has a rich history with Hendrick Motorsports. NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip drove it to nine wins for the team from 1987 to 1990, including in the 1989 DAYTONA 500. Ricky Hendrick also drove the car number in various races, including in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series in 2000 and 2001. The HendrickCars.com paint scheme is based on the No. 17 truck driven by Hendrick during his 2001 rookie season.
Catch Larson and the No. 17 HendrickCars.com team in the Xfinity Series race on Saturday, March 23, at 5 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
