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Kyle Larson has continued his dominance from short tracks to intermediate ovals to secure his third consecutive pole position at Texas Motor Speedway. Larson will lead the field to the green flag in the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 scheduled for this Sunday, April 14.
After securing the season's first pole position at Richmond a couple weeks ago, Larson led the field to the green flag at Martinsville Speedway last weekend. Returning to the mile-and-half oval this weekend, the #5 Hendrick Motorsports driver clinched his 19th Cup career pole, and 250th pole for HMS.
Kyle Larson posted a time of 28.366s to top the timing sheets, with Ty Gibbs posting the second fastest lap at 28.401s, having set the quickest time in the practice session. Gibbs' teammate Christopher Bell posted the third fastest time at 28.417s, with Tyler Reddick joining him in the second row with a laptime of 28.450s
Stewart Haas Racing driver Chase Briscoe was the fastest Ford driver, sharing the third row with William Byron. Reigning NASCAR Cup champion Ryan Blaney and teammate Austin Cindric share the fourth row.
Martin Truex Jr. and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top-10 drivers, with Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastian missing the cut to advance to the final round. Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott will start in 24th position.
Kyle Busch made contact with the wall in the practice session, preventing him from running a lap in the qualifying session. Jimmie Johnson, in his second start in the #84 Toyota, also crashed into the wall and will start the race from the rear.
Kyle Larson is the outright favorite to win the race at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. He was two race wins at the mile and half oval, an All Star win and a playoff win both in his title winning campaign in 2021.
Watch Larson lead the field to the green flag in the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at 3:43 PM ET. Catch the action live on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM.
Kyle Larson contrasts driving IndyCar machinery to NASCAR next-gen
The #5 Hendrick Motorsports driver has been gearing up for his IndyCar debut and participated in an open test earlier this week. He showcased blistering speed, setting the second fastest laptime among the veterans in the first session.
After driving around 220mph at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Kyle Larson surprisingly admitted that he was more on edge driving his #5 Chevy at Texas Motor Speedway in the qualifying session. He said in the interview on FS1:
"For sure that doesn't hurt to feel 220mph something there. But it's surprising like this felt way faster today, just because the lack of grip. The IndyCar there was cold and overcast and the track was green so it had a lot of grip to go along with that speed, so you don't have to get that sensation but here today I felt on edge every lap..."
Kyle Larson will attempt double duty on May 26, entering the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 later on the same day.
