“Pretty ironic I guess”: Kyle Larson comments on beating Chris Buescher to Kansas pole

Kyle Larson described his pole position win over Chris Buescher at Kansas Speedway as ironic. The two NASCAR drivers will face off again at the front following their record-setting finish in the spring race last year.

For context, the 2024 AdventHealth 400 witnessed the closest finish in NASCAR history. Larson beat Buescher by 0.001 seconds after the #5 Hendrick Motorsports driver overtook his rival on the off turn four on the final lap.

Speaking about the pole position-winning performance on Saturday, Kyle Larson said (via NASCAR):

"It's pretty ironic, I guess, to have us both on the front row here after our close finish a year ago." (0:02 onwards)

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion was thrilled after scoring his first pole in the Kansas spring race. He did once start in first place at the 1.5-mile track, but it was in the fall of the 2021 season.

"It's cool to finally get a pole too at Kansas. I feel like I've been short a number of times," he added.

Kyle Larson bested Chris Buescher in the qualifying session by 0.057 seconds for his first pole position of the year. His previous best starting position was third place at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he led for 411 of 500 laps for the win.

Christopher Bell will start in third, followed by Tyler Reddick and last week's winner at Texas Motor Speedway, Joey Logano. Meanwhile, HMS teammates William Byron and Chase Elliott secured seventh and ninth, respectively, with Alex Bowman starting in 21st place.

FS1 will commence the TV coverage of the 2025 AdventHealth 400 at 3:00 p.m. ET. The 267-lapper will be the last event before the stock car racing series hosts the All-Star Race Weekend.

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"They're still the best there": Kyle Larson chose opposing manufacturer as favorite to dominate at Kansas

Before the qualifying session at Kansas Speedway, Kyle Larson argued Toyota would be the dominant manufacturer this weekend. The Chevrolet pilot may have won at the track last year, but admitted he always had to work to stay competitive.

The #5 Hendrick Motorsports ace stated (via Speedway Digest):

"The Toyotas. They're still the best there, I think, anyways. We've chipped away at it and gotten better, I think. I've led lots of laps there since we've gone there with the Next Gen. I just hadn't gotten the win until last year. But you always work to get better every time you go to a track."

Kyle Larson (#5) behind the #42 Toyota of John Hunter Nemechek at Kansas Speedway - Source: Getty

Out of the top five drivers in the recently concluded qualifying session, two were from the Toyota camp (Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick), with Ty Gibbs in sixth. Bell and Reddick were behind Kyle Larson by 0.074 seconds and 0.093 seconds, respectively.

On the bright side, Chevrolet won the two Kansas stops last year. HMS driver Larson kicked it off with a historic victory in the spring race (AdventHealth 400) before Trackhouse Racing driver Ross Chastain won the fall race (Hollywood Casino 400).