AVONDALE, Ariz. – Kyle Larson continued his dominance at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday with a pole-winning run for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race.
Larson topped the speed chart in Friday’s 50-minute practice session and posted the fastest lap of the weekend in the first round of time trials, covering the 1.0-mile distance in 27.324 seconds.
In the final round of qualifying, Larson was the only driver to top 130 mph. Last to post a lap in the money round, Larson ran 130.237 mph (27.642 seconds) to knock Denny Hamlin (129.931 mph) off the provisional pole.
The importance of the pole position was not lost on Larson, who won the Cup Series championship from the first starting position in 2021.
“It means a lot,” said Larson, who scored his first Busch Light Pole Award of the season, his second at Phoenix and the 15th of his career. “We got the pole in ’21, and that really helped us win the championship race.
“Joey (Logano) had an extremely fast car in the fall last year. He got the pole as well and won. Being in that number one pit stall means a lot, so happy to be quick this weekend and quick in practice and have it translate in qualifying.”
Larson said the performance of his No. 5 Chevrolet in turns 1 and 2 made the difference.
“Looking at (the data), I felt like my ability to roll some center-corner speed in 1 and 2 gave me a little bit of an advantage,” Larson said. “There’s definitely some cars that are better than me in 3 and 4, but we’re also competitive over there, too.
“So I feel like there’s a lot of room behind the wheel to get a lot better in 3 and 4. My car’s fine. I just think I have to do some things different to get better in 3 and 4, and we should be really good.”
William Byron qualified third at 129.922 mph, just .002 seconds behind Hamlin. Brad Keselowski (129.762 mph) will start fourth on Sunday in the fastest Ford.
Christopher Bell earned the fifth starting spot, followed by Ross Chastain, Michael McDowell, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch and Erik Jones. The top 10 starters include five Chevrolets, three Fords and two Toyotas.
Josh Berry, substituting for injured Chase Elliott, will start 17th beside Hendrick teammate Alex Bowman, one of two drivers with top-10 finishes in the first three races of the season.
The other, Daniel Suarez, will start 11th after narrowly missing the final round.
WDUN will carry live MRN Radio coverage of Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series United Rentals 500 from Phoenix Raceway at 2:30 pm on 102.9 FM, AM 550 and streaming live on AccessWDUN.
NASCAR Cup Series
Phoenix Raceway – Avondale, AZ
United Rentals 500 – March 11, 2023
Saturday’s Qualifying Results
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
1. 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 27.642 130.237
2. 11 Denny Hamlin Shingrix Toyota 27.707 129.931
3. 24 William Byron Valvoline Chevrolet 27.709 129.922
4. 6 Brad Keselowski Castrol Edge Ford 27.743 129.762
5. 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 27.782 129.580
6. 1 Ross Chastain Kubota Chevrolet 27.822 129.394
7. 34 Michael McDowell Love’s Travel Stops Ford 27.867 129.185
8. 12 Ryan Blaney Dent Wizard Ford 27.889 129.083
9. 8 Kyle Busch Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet 27.918 128.949
10. 43 Erik Jones Allegiant Chevrolet 27.933 128.880
11. 99 Daniel Suarez Freeway Insurance Chevrolet 27.660 130.152
12. 45 Tyler Reddick The Beast Unleashed Toyota 27.666 130.124
13. 19 Martin Truex, Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota 27.667 130.119
14. 54 Ty Gibbs # Monster Energy Toyota 27.671 130.100
15. 4 Kevin Harvick Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford 27.683 130.044
16. 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 27.700 129.964
17. 9 Josh Berry(i) Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet 27.716 129.889
18. 48 Alex Bowman Ally Best Friends Chevrolet 27.723 129.856
19. 23 Bubba Wallace McDonald’s Toyota 27.750 129.730
20. 2 Austin Cindric Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford 27.753 129.716
21. 17 Chris Buescher Socios Ford 27.757 129.697
22. 16 A.J. Allmendinger Action Industries Chevrolet 27.762 129.674
23. 47 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Thomas’ Chevrolet 27.766 129.655
24. 14 Chase Briscoe Mahindra Tractors Ford 27.779 129.594
25. 41 Ryan Preece United Rentals Ford 27.784 129.571
26. 31 Justin Haley LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 27.870 129.171
27. 21 Harrison Burton DEX Imaging Ford 27.974 128.691
28. 7 Corey LaJoie EnviroXstream Chevrolet 27.988 128.627
29. 15 Todd Gilliland OTR Mobile Ford 28.042 128.379
30. 3 Austin Dillon BetMGM March Matchups Chevrolet 28.058 128.306
31. 10 Aric Almirola Go Bowling Ford 28.084 128.187
32. 42 Noah Gragson # Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet 28.140 127.932
33. 78 B.J. McLeod Superior Logistics Services Chevrolet 28.194 127.687
34. 38 Zane Smith(i) Wellcare Ford 28.324 127.101
35. 77 Ty Dillon Mutoh Chevrolet 28.752 125.209
36. 51 Cody Ware Biohaven/Jacob Co Ford 28.854 124.766
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
