NASCAR: Larson wins pole at Martinsville

Last week’s NASCAR Cup Series winner, Kyle Larson, will lead the field to the green in tomorrow’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Larson clocked in a fastest lap of 19.709 seconds in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1 to capture the pole.

The feat marks Larson’s fourth NASCAR Cup Series pole win of 2022; and his 14th career pole in 294 starts in the series.

Larson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Chase Elliott, qualified second in his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1, giving Chevrolet a sweep of the front row starting spots for tomorrow’s NASCAR Cup Series Round of 8 elimination race.

Larson Quotes

KYLE, WHAT A RUN YOU GUYS ARE ON. DID YOU FEEL LIKE THAT WAS A POLE LAP?

“I don’t know.. I just tried to be smooth, keep traction the whole lap and it worked out. I tried to go a little bit harder the first lap than I did the round before. I kind of locked up, so I just kind of backed it down the second lap. I feel like a lot of times here, slower is faster, so I just tried to be smooth with it. I’m surprised I did anything good here at Martinsville (Speedway), so off to a good start so far. Hopefully we can keep it going tomorrow.”

YOU GUYS ARE ON SUCH A GOOD RUN. DO YOU EVER THINK ABOUT, IF YOU DID MAKE IT THROUGH TO THIS ROUND, WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN?

“No, my mindset hasn’t really changed at all, really. Just grateful to still have the opportunity to race for an owner’s championship. Yeah, three more points would be good, but I honestly don’t lose any sleep about it. I’ve got one championship under my belt and going for another one these next couple of weeks. I feel like going for an owner’s title is really what’s important.

Looking forward to it. Thank you to everybody at Hendrick Automotive Group, HendrickCars.com, Hendrick Motorsports. Chase (Elliott) and I on the front row will be pretty cool. Hopefully we’ll get Chase and William (Byron) locked-in through this round and give Mr. H a few shots at the championship.”

Starting Lineup