BRISTOL, Tenn. - Hendrick Motorsports grabbed three top-10 starting spots for Sunday night’s dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Kyle Larson will start the highest of the four drivers in fifth, while Alex Bowman will take the green flag from the eighth position. NASCAR Cup Series points leader Chase Elliott will take the grid ninth and William Byron holds the 19th starting spot.
Cole Custer took the pole position for Sunday after a second-place run in the first heat to go with seven passing points after starting last.
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The lineup was set via four qualifying races and drivers were awarded race finishing position points and passing points. The race finishing position points were awarded from 10 points for first in each qualifying heat to two points for finishing ninth. Passing points are the difference between assigned starting position and finishing position. If a driver went forward, passing points were earned. If a driver went backward or finished where they started, no passing points were awarded.
Bowman lined up fifth in the first qualifying heat and made some big gains following the lap 10 restart to finish third in his heat. Elliott, Byron and Larson were all in the fourth and final heat. Elliott started first, while Byron lined up fourth and Larson fired off from sixth. Shortly after the start, Elliott lost the lead to Ty Dillon and ran second the rest of the way. Larson picked off a few spots to finish third, while Byron came home fifth.
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The Cup Series had two 50-minute practice sessions on Friday. Larson placed sixth in the final session.
"I thought the track was really good," Larson said on Saturday during a media availability. "It got slick from top to the very wall. There's no cushion here, but we just kind of chased the moisture up the track until it got to the wall, which was fun. I thought all the lanes were pretty equal. It should make for a good race."
The 250-lap main event will be held on Easter Sunday at 7 p.m. ET with coverage on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.