Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Motorsport
Motorsport
Sport
Jim Utter

Kyle Larson beats Denny Hamlin to Phoenix Cup pole

Larson, who was fastest in Friday’s practice session at Phoenix Raceway, followed that up with a perfect qualifying performance on Saturday.

Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was fastest in his Round 1 qualifying group and as the last car out in the final round, his lap of 130.237 mph eclipsed Denny Hamlin to claim the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race.

The pole is the first of the 2023 season for Larson and 15th of his career.

“It’s definitely a blast,” Larson said when asked how fun it is to drive a car like he has this weekend. “A huge thank you to everybody at Hendrick Motorsports and especially this No. 5 car for getting a new aero package thrown at them and doing their homework.

“I was super-happy about yesterday. I thought my car handled good and had a lot of speed in it and it translated into qualifying today.

“It’s a tough race, though, tomorrow. These Next Gen races are really, really hard to win. It would be nice to get a little redemption on last week but we’re off to a good start (this season). That’s all you can ask for.”

Hamlin, among the first to go out in the final round, ended up second (129.931 mph) and last weekend’s winner, William Byron, was third (129.922 mph). Brad Keselowski and Christopher Bell rounded out the top-five.

Completing the top-10 starting lineup are Ross Chastain, Michael McDowell, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch and Erik Jones.

Sunday’s race will be the first since NASCAR announced new aero rules this season for road courses and a majority of tracks measuring 1.058-mile or less in distance, including Phoenix.

The package, which was tested in the offseason at Phoenix, consists of a 2-inch spoiler and the removal of three diffuser strakes and engine panel strakes. The changes were expected to lead to a 30-percent reduction in downforce.

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Interval Mph
1 5 United States Kyle Larson Chevrolet 1 27.642     130.237
2 11 United States Denny Hamlin Toyota 1 27.707 0.065 0.065 129.931
3 24 United States William Byron Chevrolet 1 27.709 0.067 0.002 129.922
4 6 United States Brad Keselowski Ford 1 27.743 0.101 0.034 129.762
5 20 United States Christopher Bell Toyota 1 27.782 0.140 0.039 129.580
6 1 United States Ross Chastain Chevrolet 1 27.822 0.180 0.040 129.394
7 34 United States Michael McDowell Ford 1 27.867 0.225 0.045 129.185
8 12 United States Ryan Blaney Ford 1 27.889 0.247 0.022 129.083
9 8 United States Kyle Busch Chevrolet 1 27.918 0.276 0.029 128.949
10 43 United States Erik Jones Chevrolet 1 27.933 0.291 0.015 128.880

Round 1 / Group B

Larson, who was fastest in Friday’s practice session, led the way in Group B with an average lap speed of 131.752 mph.

Busch ended up second-fastest (130.326 mph) and Bell was third (130.284 mph).

Also advancing to the final round from Group B were Blaney and Chastain.

Among those who failed to advance were Daniel Suarez, Joey Logano and last year’s spring race winner Chase Briscoe.

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Interval Mph
1 5 United States Kyle Larson Chevrolet 1 27.324     131.752
2 8 United States Kyle Busch Chevrolet 1 27.623 0.299 0.299 130.326
3 20 United States Christopher Bell Toyota 1 27.632 0.308 0.009 130.284
4 12 United States Ryan Blaney Ford 1 27.642 0.318 0.010 130.237
5 1 United States Ross Chastain Chevrolet 1 27.656 0.332 0.014 130.171
6 99 Mexico Daniel Suarez Chevrolet 1 27.660 0.336 0.004 130.152
7 54 Ty Gibbs Toyota 1 27.671 0.347 0.011 130.100
8 22 United States Joey Logano Ford 1 27.700 0.376 0.029 129.964
9 9 Josh Berry Chevrolet 1 27.716 0.392 0.016 129.889
10 48 United States Alex Bowman Chevrolet 1 27.723 0.399 0.007 129.856
11 17 United States Chris Buescher Ford 1 27.757 0.433 0.034 129.697
12 16 United States A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 1 27.762 0.438 0.005 129.674
13 14 United States Chase Briscoe Ford 1 27.779 0.455 0.017 129.594
14 41 United States Ryan Preece Ford 1 27.784 0.460 0.005 129.571
15 15 United States Todd Gilliland Ford 1 28.042 0.718 0.258 128.379
16 3 United States Austin Dillon Chevrolet 1 28.058 0.734 0.016 128.306
17 10 United States Aric Almirola Ford 1 28.084 0.760 0.026 128.187
18 78 United States B.J. McLeod Chevrolet 1 28.194 0.870 0.110 127.687

Round 1 / Group A

Byron, the last driver to make a qualifying attempt in Group A, went straight to the top of the leaderboard with an average lap speed of 130.657 mph.

Jones ended up second-fastest (130.643 mph) and Keselowski was third (130.279 mph).

“We’ve got some good speed,” Jones said. “Hopefully, this will help get our season going.”

Also advancing to the final round were Hamlin and McDowell.

Among those who failed to advance were Kevin Harvick, Tyler Reddick, Austin Cindric and Bubba Wallace.

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Interval Mph
1 24 United States William Byron Chevrolet 1 27.553     130.657
2 43 United States Erik Jones Chevrolet 1 27.556 0.003 0.003 130.643
3 6 United States Brad Keselowski Ford 1 27.633 0.080 0.077 130.279
4 11 United States Denny Hamlin Toyota 1 27.634 0.081 0.001 130.274
5 34 United States Michael McDowell Ford 1 27.644 0.091 0.010 130.227
6 45 United States Tyler Reddick Toyota 1 27.666 0.113 0.022 130.124
7 19 United States Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 1 27.667 0.114 0.001 130.119
8 4 United States Kevin Harvick Ford 1 27.683 0.130 0.016 130.044
9 23 United States Bubba Wallace Toyota 1 27.750 0.197 0.067 129.730
10 2 United States Austin Cindric Ford 1 27.753 0.200 0.003 129.716
11 47 United States Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Chevrolet 1 27.766 0.213 0.013 129.655
12 31 United States Justin Haley Chevrolet 1 27.870 0.317 0.104 129.171
13 21 United States Harrison Burton Ford 1 27.974 0.421 0.104 128.691
14 7 United States Corey Lajoie Chevrolet 1 27.988 0.435 0.014 128.627
15 42 United States Noah Gragson Chevrolet 1 28.140 0.587 0.152 127.932
16 38 Zane Smith Ford 1 28.324 0.771 0.184 127.101
17 77 United States Ty Dillon Chevrolet 1 28.752 1.199 0.428 125.209
18 51 United States Cody Ware Ford 1 28.854 1.301 0.102 124.766

 

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.