By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service 

NEWTON, Iowa — Kyle Larson was hoping for a rainout of Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Iowa Speedway.

Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, poses for a photo after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Iowa Corn 350 at Iowa Speedway on June 15, 2024 in Newton, Iowa. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

His wish wasn’t granted, but in the end, it didn’t matter. Larson will start from the front of the field in Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol, the inaugural Cup race at Iowa Speedway (7 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Under the metric qualifying system, a canceled session would have put Larson, last Sunday’s winner at Sonoma Raceway, on the pole for the debut race. Instead, the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet had to earn his fourth Busch Light Pole Award of the season and the 20th of his career.

The last driver to make a qualifying run, Larson covered the 0.875-mile distance in 23.084 seconds (136.458 mph), edging Ryan Blaney (136.311 mph) for the top starting spot by 0.025 seconds.

“It was challenging, but it wasn’t as challenging as I thought it would be,” said Larson, who had the benefit of watching 35 other drivers make attempts ahead of him. “It helps going out last. It helps being able to watch everybody.

Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, looks on during the NASCAR Xfinity Series Hy-Vee Perks 250 at Iowa Speedway on June 15, 2024 in Newton, Iowa. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

“But I was hoping for rain.”

Blaney felt he left some speed on the table during his two-lap run.

“I wish I could have picked up on the second lap a little more,” said the reigning series champion, who added that he missed Turns 3 and 4 slightly on his second circuit.

With the qualifying session delayed for 45 minutes because of track-drying efforts from a storm that blew through during lunchtime, drivers ran only one round, with the top five drivers from Group A and the top five from Group B making up the top 10 starting positions.

The Group B drivers ran second and had a clear advantage, with all of the top five starting positions going to drivers from that group. Josh Berry (135.916 mph) will start third, followed by William Byron (135.595 mph) and Brad Keselowski (135.338 mph).

Chase Briscoe led Group A at 133.046 mph and will start sixth, followed by Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell (though Bell will drop to the rear in a backup car after crashing in Friday’s practice).  

The remainder of the field is ordered by group in alternating numbers. Joey Logano, sixth in Group B, starts 11th beside Denny Hamlin, sixth fastest in Group A.

NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol

Iowa Speedway

Newton, Iowa

Saturday, June 15, 2024

                1. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 136.458 mph.

                2. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 136.311 mph.

                3. (4) Josh Berry #, Ford, 135.916 mph.

                4. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet, 135.595 mph.

                5. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 135.338 mph.

                6. (14) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 133.046 mph.

                7. (8) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 132.928 mph.

                8. (45) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 132.872 mph.

                9. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 132.637 mph.

                10. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 131.887 mph.

                11. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 135.303 mph.

                12. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 131.821 mph.

                13. (99) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 135.274 mph.

                14. (38) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 131.750 mph.

                15. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, 134.857 mph.

                16. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 131.338 mph.

                17. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 134.546 mph.

                18. (16) AJ Allmendinger(i), Chevrolet, 131.059 mph.

                19. (51) Justin Haley, Ford, 134.185 mph.

                20. (77) Carson Hocevar #, Chevrolet, 131.048 mph.

                21. (2) Austin Cindric, Ford, 134.043 mph.

                22. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford, 131.026 mph.

                23. (10) Noah Gragson, Ford, 133.849 mph.

                24. (7) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 130.543 mph.

                25. (21) Harrison Burton, Ford, 133.639 mph.

                26. (71) Zane Smith #, Chevrolet, 130.106 mph.

                27. (54) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 133.480 mph.

                28. (15) Kaz Grala #, Ford, 129.555 mph.

                29. (41) Ryan Preece, Ford, 133.119 mph.

                30. (31) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 129.459 mph.

                31. (19) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 132.923 mph.

                32. (43) Erik Jones, Toyota, 128.456 mph.

                33. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 132.822 mph.

                34. (42) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 127.903 mph.

                35. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 131.316 mph.

                36. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 126.552 mph.