Qualifying report

NASCAR Cup Richmond

Larson beats Elliott to Richmond Cup pole for all-Hendrick front row

Kyle Larson withstood a late challenge from his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott to win the pole for Sunday night’s NASCAR Cup race at Richmond (Va.) Raceway.

Jim Utter

Edited: Mar 30, 2024, 6:53 PM

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Larson, who was fastest in Saturday’s practice, went out early in the final round of Saturday’s qualifying and paced the session with an average lap speed of 120.332 mph.

Elliott, who went out last of the 10 cars, went second-fastest on his first of two laps (120.321 mph), but couldn’t gain any speed on his second lap leaving him sharing the front row with Larson.

The pole is Larson’s first of the season and 17th of his career and also comes in a race he won one year ago.

Round 1 / Group B

Elliott sent a blistering pace in the first round with an average lap speed of 122.095 mph – the fastest lap of the day at the time.

Wallace ended up second fastest (121.742 mph) and Cindric was third (121.704 mph).

Also moving on to the final round of qualifying from Group B were Gilliland and Truex.

Among those who failed to advance were Denny Hamlin, last weekend’s race winner William Byron and Kyle Busch.

CLA DRIVER # MANUFACTURER LAPS TIME INTERVAL MPH 1 C. ElliottHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 9 Chevrolet 2

22.114

122.095 2 B. Wallace23XI RACING 23 Toyota 2

+0.064

22.178

0.064 121.742 3 A. CindricTEAM PENSKE 2 Ford 2

+0.071

22.185

0.007 121.704 4 T. GillilandFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS 38 Ford 2

+0.088

22.202

0.017 121.611 5 M. Truex JrJOE GIBBS RACING 19 Toyota 2

+0.114

22.228

0.026 121.468 6 D. HamlinJOE GIBBS RACING 11 Toyota 2

+0.116

22.230

0.002 121.457 7 W. ByronHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 24 Chevrolet 2

+0.117

22.231

0.001 121.452 8 N. GragsonSTEWART-HAAS RACING 10 Ford 2

+0.141

22.255

0.024 121.321 9 K. BuschRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING 8 Chevrolet 2

+0.141

22.255

0.000 121.321 10 T. Reddick23XI RACING 45 Toyota 2

+0.172

22.286

0.031 121.152 11 C. LajoieSPIRE MOTORSPORTS 7 Chevrolet 2

+0.219

22.333

0.047 120.897 12 B. KeselowskiRFK RACING 6 Ford 1

+0.221

22.335

0.002 120.887 13

C. HocevarSPIRE MOTORSPORTS

77 Chevrolet 2

+0.253

22.367

0.032 120.714 14 E. JonesLEGACY MOTOR CLUB 43 Toyota 2

+0.261

22.375

0.008 120.670 15 C. BellJOE GIBBS RACING 20 Toyota 2

+0.269

22.383

0.008 120.627 16 M. McDowellFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS 34 Ford 2

+0.346

22.460

0.077 120.214 17 T. DillonKAULIG RACING 16 Chevrolet 2

+0.381

22.495

0.035 120.027 18 K. GralaRICK WARE RACING 15 Ford 2

+0.662

22.776

0.281 118.546

Round 1 / Group A

Logano led the way in the first group with an average lap speed of 120.897 mph.

Gibbs – the last car to go out – ended up second quick (120.795 mph) while Larson was third (120.762 mph).

Also advancing to the final round were Chastain and Bowman.

Among those who failed to move on were Chris Buescher, John Hunter Nemechek and reigning series champion Ryan Blaney.

CLA DRIVER # MANUFACTURER LAPS TIME INTERVAL MPH 1 J. LoganoTEAM PENSKE 22 Ford 2

22.333

120.897 2

T. GibbsJOE GIBBS RACING

54 Toyota 2

+0.019

22.352

0.019 120.795 3 K. LarsonHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 5 Chevrolet 2

+0.025

22.358

0.006 120.762 4 R. ChastainTRACKHOUSE RACING 1 Chevrolet 2

+0.074

22.407

0.049 120.498 5 A. BowmanHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 48 Chevrolet 2

+0.089

22.422

0.015 120.417 6 R. BlaneyTEAM PENSKE 12 Ford 2

+0.115

22.448

0.026 120.278 7 C. BuescherRFK RACING 17 Ford 2

+0.127

22.460

0.012 120.214 8 R. PreeceSTEWART-HAAS RACING 41 Ford 2

+0.144

22.477

0.017 120.123 9 J. NemechekLEGACY MOTOR CLUB 42 Toyota 2

+0.154

22.487

0.010 120.069 10 D. SuarezTRACKHOUSE RACING 99 Chevrolet 2

+0.185

22.518

0.031 119.904 11 A. DillonRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING 3 Chevrolet 2

+0.193

22.526

0.008 119.861 12 R. Stenhouse JrJTG DAUGHERTY RACING 47 Chevrolet 1

+0.203

22.536

0.010 119.808 13 H. BurtonWOOD BROTHERS RACING 21 Ford 2

+0.220

22.553

0.017 119.718 14

Z. SmithSPIRE MOTORSPORTS

71 Chevrolet 2

+0.231

22.564

0.011 119.660 15 J. BerrySTEWART-HAAS RACING 4 Ford 2

+0.241

22.574

0.010 119.607 16 C. BriscoeSTEWART-HAAS RACING 14 Ford 2

+0.280

22.613

0.039 119.400 17 D. HemricKAULIG RACING 31 Chevrolet 2

+0.639

22.972

0.359 117.534 18 J. HaleyRICK WARE RACING 51 Ford 2

+0.674

23.007

0.035 117.356

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