{"id":21303,"date":"2018-08-17T22:37:04","date_gmt":"2018-08-18T03:37:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=21303"},"modified":"2018-08-17T22:41:03","modified_gmt":"2018-08-18T03:41:03","slug":"kyle-larson-prevails-in-closely-contested-bristol-qualifying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2018\/08\/17\/kyle-larson-prevails-in-closely-contested-bristol-qualifying\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyle Larson prevails in closely contested Bristol qualifying"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

BRISTOL, Tenn. \u2013 Kyle Larson<\/strong>, a close second to Kyle Busch<\/strong> in the 2018 spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway<\/strong>, took the first step toward avenging that loss\u2014and a handful of others\u2014with a pole-winning effort in Friday\u2019s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series<\/a> knockout qualifying session at the .533-mile short track.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 DC Solar Chevrolet, poses with the pole award after qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 17, 2018 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Sarah Crabill\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

In the final round, Larson covered the distance in 15.015 seconds (127.792 mph) to complete a sweep of the three rounds in the session.<\/p>\n

In winning his first Busch Pole Award at Thunder Valley, his third of the season and the seventh of his career, Larson edged Chase Elliott (127.665 mph) by .015 seconds to earn the top starting spot in Saturday\u2019s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race (6:30 p.m. on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).<\/p>\n

Kyle Busch, a seven-time winner at Bristol, qualified third at 127.639 mph. Paul Menard was fourth and Suncoco Rookie of the Year contender William Byron fifth in a session so tightly contested that the top five qualifiers were separated by a mere .028 seconds.<\/p>\n

Byron posted his final-round time first, 15.043 seconds, good for 127.554 mph. Larson took notice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw William run his \u201804\u2019 there, and I was like, \u2018That\u2019s going to be pretty tough to beat,\u2019\u201d said Larson, who ran his best lap (127.946 mph) in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet in the first round. \u201cI would have never thought that three other guys would squeeze in between him and I for first and second. It just shows how tough our sport is and our series is.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 DC Solar Chevrolet, drives during qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 17, 2018 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cBut our DC Solar Chevy has been really good all day. I felt a little off in the first practice, but we got it going in the second practice, and then it was fast in every round of qualifying. It\u2019s my favorite track. We have yet to get a win here. We\u2019ve been close so many times. I feel like Kyle (Busch) and I are two best here, but he always seems to edge me out.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, in NASCAR Xfinity and Cup series races at all tracks combined, Larson and Busch have finished 1-2 eight times. Busch has won all eight of those contests.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully, this weekend\u2019s a little different,\u201d Larson said.<\/p>\n

Elliott was disappointed at losing the pole\u2014and the No. 1 pit stall that goes with it\u2014by such a small margin.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to be really close to perfect, if not perfect here,” Elliott said. \u201cIt’s so hard to be good for 500 laps, but that’s what it takes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really wanted that first pit box. That makes such a huge difference here. If there’s any place that it makes a difference, it’s here.”<\/p>\n

Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch and Ryan Blaney claimed positions six through 10 on the grid, respectively.<\/p>\n

Brad Keselowski qualified 11th and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who needs a victory in the next three races to qualify for the Playoffs, grabbed the 12th starting spot.<\/p>\n

Notes: Ford drivers claimed seven of the top 12 starting positions\u2026 Jimmie Johnson failed to advance to the final round by .001 seconds, losing out to Stenhouse\u2026 The fifth-place effort was the best of Byron\u2019s fledgling Cup career\u2026 Alex Bowman, currently protecting the final Playoff berth on points, scraped the outside wall in the second round of qualifying and will start 22nd.<\/p>\n

Media Center Interviews:<\/h3>\n

Kyle Larson – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Bristol2_MENCS_Larson_081718.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chase Elliott – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Bristol2_MENCS_Elliott_081718.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race<\/b><\/p>\n

Bristol Motor Speedway<\/b><\/p>\n

Bristol, Tennessee<\/b><\/p>\n

Friday, August 17, 2018<\/b><\/p>\n

               1. (42)  Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 127.792 mph.<\/p>\n

               2. (9)  Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 127.665 mph.<\/p>\n

               3. (18)  Kyle Busch, Toyota, 127.639 mph.<\/p>\n

               4. (21)  Paul Menard, Ford, 127.605 mph.<\/p>\n

               5. (24)  William Byron #, Chevrolet, 127.554 mph.<\/p>\n

               6. (4)  Kevin Harvick, Ford, 127.039 mph.<\/p>\n

               7. (11)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 126.896 mph.<\/p>\n

               8. (10)  Aric Almirola, Ford, 126.880 mph.<\/p>\n

               9. (41)  Kurt Busch, Ford, 126.863 mph.<\/p>\n

               10. (12)  Ryan Blaney, Ford, 126.762 mph.<\/p>\n

               11. (2)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 126.253 mph.<\/p>\n

               12. (17)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 125.988 mph.<\/p>\n

               13. (48)  Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 125.922 mph.<\/p>\n

               14. (20)  Erik Jones, Toyota, 125.856 mph.<\/p>\n

               15. (38)  David Ragan, Ford, 125.691 mph.<\/p>\n

               16. (14)  Clint Bowyer, Ford, 125.675 mph.<\/p>\n

               17. (78)  Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 125.650 mph.<\/p>\n

               18. (3)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 125.592 mph.<\/p>\n

               19. (22)  Joey Logano, Ford, 125.461 mph.<\/p>\n

               20. (1)  Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 125.404 mph.<\/p>\n

               21. (19)  Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 125.363 mph.<\/p>\n

               22. (88)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 125.117 mph.<\/p>\n

               23. (6)  Trevor Bayne, Ford, 125.068 mph.<\/p>\n

               24. (31)  Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 124.347 mph.<\/p>\n

               25. (47)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 124.897 mph.<\/p>\n

               26. (95)  Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 124.387 mph.<\/p>\n

               27. (43)  Bubba Wallace #, Chevrolet, 124.315 mph.<\/p>\n

               28. (37)  Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 124.210 mph.<\/p>\n

               29. (32)  Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 124.066 mph.<\/p>\n

               30. (72)  Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 123.937 mph.<\/p>\n

               31. (34)  Michael McDowell, Ford, 123.682 mph.<\/p>\n

               32. (13)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 123.261 mph.<\/p>\n

               33. (96)  Jesse Little(i), Toyota, 122.310 mph.<\/p>\n

               34. (7)  JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, 121.798 mph.<\/p>\n

               35. (15)  Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 121.767 mph.<\/p>\n

               36. (51)  Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 121.274 mph.<\/p>\n

               37. (66)  Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, 120.816 mph.<\/p>\n

               38. (99)  Gray Gaulding, Chevrolet, 120.687 mph.<\/p>\n

               39. (00)  Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 120.407 mph.<\/p>\n

               40. (23)  Blake Jones, Toyota, 119.173 mph.<\/p>\n

               1 drivers failed to qualify.<\/p>\n

               41. (52)  J McLeod(i), Ford, 120.611 mph.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. \u2013 Kyle Larson, a close second to Kyle Busch in the 2018 spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway, took the first step toward avenging that loss\u2014and a handful of others\u2014with a pole-winning effort in Friday\u2019s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series knockout qualifying session at the .533-mile short track. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":21307,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[177,225,16],"class_list":["post-21303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-bristol-motor-speedway","tag-kyle-larson","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/357365.jpg?fit=3940%2C2660","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-5xB","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21303"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21309,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21303\/revisions\/21309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}