Qualifying report

NASCAR Cup Bristol

Kyle Larson beats Austin Dillon to Bristol Dirt Cup pole

A wild, first lap pass in his heat race helped earn Kyle Larson the pole for Sunday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the Bristol Dirt Track.

Jim Utter

Edited: Apr 9, 2023, 8:28 PM

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Larson, who won a dirt Late Model race he sponsored earlier this week, went from sixth to first on the first lap of his 15-lap heat race and held on for the win.

Larson collected a total of 15 points (finishing position and pass points) which gave him the pole. It’s his second of the 2023 season and 16th of his career.

Austin Dillon, who won Heat 1, will line up second Sunday night, J.J. Yeley will start third, Christopher Bell fourth and Kyle Busch rounds out the top-five.

Tyler Reddick, Austin Cindric, Ryan Preece, Ryan Blaney, and William Byron rounded out the top-ten.

Heat 4

Bubba Wallace held off a tough challenge from Busch to take the win in Heat 4 and collected 10 points.

Austin Cindric ended up third, Jonathan Davenport was fourth and Joey Logano rounded out the top-five.

Wallace started on the pole and quickly built a solid lead over Davenport.

On Lap 9, Daniel Suarez spun around off Turn 2 and came to a stop on the track, which brought out a caution. The race returned to green with Wallace still in the lead.

Busch moved into second on Lap 10 as Cindric powered to third.

Heat 3

Larson rushed to the front on the first lap and led the whole way to take the win in Heat 3 and collected 15 points.

“It’s cool, I guess,” Larson said. “I didn’t expect to be able to go for the lead there on the first lap.”

Ryan Preece was second, Yeley third, Erik Jones fourth and Michael McDowell rounded out the top-five.

Jones started on the pole but Larson, who started sixth, blasted to the lead and led Lap 1.

By Lap 4, Preece had worked his way into second and began trying to run down Larson for the lead.

With five laps remaining, Larson held a small lead over Preece with Yeley in third.

Heat 2

Ryan Blaney started on the pole and led all 15 laps on his way to the Heat 2 win and collected 10 points.

Chase Briscoe edged William Byron for second. Harrison Burton finished fourth and Aric Almirola rounded out the top-five.

Briscoe is driving with a broken finger on his left hand, which will require surgery next week. He injured it while participating in the Kyle Larson Late Model Challenge this week.

Heat 1

Austin Dillon held off a furious challenge from Tyler Reddick to win the first 15-lap heat race and collected 14 points.

“I had a blast. It’s really fun going back to my dirt days,” Austin Dillon said. “It’s been a while since I got to run some dirt but it came back to me pretty quick.”

Bell was third, Alex Bowman fourth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top-five.

Stenhouse started on the pole but Bowman worked his way into the lead on Lap 2.

Austin Dillon got around Bowman on Lap 3 to move into the lead.

On Lap 6, Josh Berry spun around off Turn 2 which brought out a caution. The heat restarted with Austin Dillon leading Reddick.

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