SONOMA, Calif. – When it comes to Sonoma Raceway, Kyle Larson has qualifying dialed in.
The driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 took the pole position for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race with a fast lap of 92.111 mph in the final round of group qualifying.
This is the fourth straight pole at Sonoma for Larson in weekends where qualifying took place, which sets a new track record for consecutive pole positions and breaks a tie with Ricky Rudd (won poles from 1990-92). Larson previously won poles from 2017-19 at the California road course, there was no race here in 2020 and the field was set by the metric formula in the 2021 race. Larson did start first in that race and won the event for his first career road course win.
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"It was a good lap," Larson said of his final round qualifying effort. "I was a bit surprised that I ran that lap because I feel like I gave up a lot of time in turns four and seven. If I had those two corners back, I feel like I could have gone quite a bit faster. We just have a really good No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy. Thank you to everyone on our team and everybody back at the shop and the engine shop. I’m excited about it."
Larson will have a teammate starting alongside of him as Chase Elliott will start second. The driver of the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 posted a fast lap of 92.083 mph to earn the front row starting spot.
The 26-year-old Dawsonville, Georgia, native has won seven road course races in his career – although Sonoma is one of two on the schedule he has yet to win at. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course is the other.
"For Chase (Elliott) to lap down the lap that he did, I feel like that shows how strong he is because he was really good in race trim, too," Larson said. "I have to figure some things out on my end. I think my car is capable of racing good, I just have to get a little bit better on the long runs. Hopefully we’ll have a good shot at the win."
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This is the third time that Hendrick Motorsports has started 1-2 at Sonoma and the pole position marks their 10th (most all-time) at the wine country venue. For Larson, the top starting spot is his second of the season and 12th pole of his career.
Alex Bowman and the No. 48 Ally Racing team will line up 19th and William Byron will start 20th in the No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
Just like the results of last year’s race at the California road course, Larson and Elliott ran 1-2 in the group practice sessions. The reigning Cup champion, who is from Elk Grove, California, topped practice with a lap of 90.424 mph.
In its history, Hendrick Motorsports has 25 road course wins with seven of those victories coming at Sonoma. Both marks are the best in the Cup Series. Last year, the organization won five of the seven road events with Larson winning three times and Elliott earning victory twice. The team has won 10 of the last 15 races contested on road courses.
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The 110-lap race is set to begin at 4 p.m. ET with coverage on FOX Sports 1 (FS1) as well as PRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.