Kyle Larson wins pole for Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond

NASCAR: Kyle Larson wins Toyota 400 Owners pole at Richmond

Hendrick Chevy driver Kyle Larson turned a lap of 22.438s to win the pole for the Toyota Owners 400 NASCAR Cup race at Richmond.

Larson will lead the field to the green flag for the Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway at 7:00pm on Easter Sunday

Larson’s Chevy teammate Chase Elliott was a close 2nd, just 0.002s behind his teammate.

Ross Chastain was third in the #1 Chevy and Alex Bowman made it a 1-2-3-4 for Chevrolets.

Bubba Wallace rounded out the top-5 in his #23 Toyota.

“Definitely helps for sure,” Larson said of his effort. “Having the No. 1 pit stall here means a lot. So happy to do that. Happy to be in Group A for sure, and then the sun coming out a little bit there helps.

“Chase got real close there, so I was a bit nervous. Awesome day for Hendrick Motorsports. … Good to be on the pole. We’ll see if it translates in tomorrow’s race.”

Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain will start third, followed by Hendrick driver Alex Bowman and 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace.

Front Row Motorsports’ Todd Gilliland, Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs, and Team Penske teammates Austin Cindric and Joey Logano rounded out the top-10 qualifiers at Richmond.

Logano’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford had been fastest in Group A during first-round qualifying, as had Elliott, whose 122.095 mph lap was quickest overall in the opening round.

Of note, Denny Hamlin just missed advancing to the second round in qualifying, and the four-time Richmond winner will start 11th in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, who posted the fastest 30-lap average speed in practice, will start 12th.

Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, last week’s winner at the Circuit of The Americas road course, will roll off 13th. He is the first multi-race winner of the season, with victories in the Daytona 500 and COTA. He’ll start alongside RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher, the summer Richmond race winner last season.

Richard Childress Racing driver Kyle Busch, who leads all active drivers with six Richmond victories, will start 15th.

Toyota Owners 400 NASCAR Cup Lineup

Pos No. Driver Team Time Speed
1 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 22.438 120.332
2 9 Chase Elliott UniFirst Chevrolet 22.44 120.321
3 1 Ross Chastain Busch Light Chevrolet 22.489 120.059
4 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 22.526 119.861
5 23 Bubba Wallace McDonald’s Toyota 22.534 119.819
6 38 Todd Gilliland FARXIGA(dapagliflozin) Ford 22.545 119.76
7 19 Martin Truex Jr. Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota 22.578 119.585
8 54 Ty Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota 22.591 119.517
9 2 Austin Cindric Discount Tire Ford 22.668 119.111
10 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 22.676 119.069
11 11 Denny Hamlin Mavis Tires & Brakes Toyota 22.230 121.457
12 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Duracell Ford 22.448 120.278
13 24 William Byron Liberty University Chevrolet 22.231 121.452
14 17 Chris Buescher Nexletol Ford 22.460 120.214
15 8 Kyle Busch Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet 22.255 121.321
16 41 Ryan Preece United Rentals Ford 22.477 120.123
17 10 Noah Gragson Superior Essex Ford 22.255 121.321
18 42 John Hunter Nemechek Safeway Toyota 22.487 120.069
19 45 Tyler Reddick SiriusXM Toyota 22.286 121.152
20 99 Daniel Suarez Quaker State Chevrolet 22.518 119.904
21 7 Corey LaJoie Gainbridge Chevrolet 22.333 120.897
22 3 Austin Dillon BREZTRI Chevrolet 22.526 119.861
23 6 Brad Keselowski BuildSubmarines.com Ford 22.335 120.887
24 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Kroger/NOS Energy Drink Chevrolet 22.536 119.808
25 77 Carson Hocevar # Delaware Life Chevrolet 22.367 120.714
26 21 Harrison Burton DEX Imaging Ford 22.553 119.718
27 43 Erik Jones Dollar Tree Toyota 22.375 120.670
28 71 Zane Smith # Focused Health Chevrolet 22.564 119.660
29 20 Christopher Bell Mobil 1 Toyota 22.383 120.627
30 4 Josh Berry # SunnyD Ford 22.574 119.607
31 34 Michael McDowell Long John Silver’s Ford 22.460 120.214
32 14 Chase Briscoe HighPoint.com Ford 22.613 119.400
33 16 Ty Dillon(i) Chevy Accessories Chevrolet 22.495 120.027
34 31 Daniel Hemric LA Golf Chevrolet 22.972 117.534
35 15 Kaz Grala # N29 Capital Partners Ford 22.776 118.546
36 51 Justin Haley Walmart Health & Wellness Ford 23.007 117.356