By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
BRISTOL, Tenn. – It didn’t take long for Kyle Larson to assert his superiority on the dirt track at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Starting sixth in the third of four 15-lap qualifying heat races, Larson had stormed into the lead before the end of the first lap and held off charging Ryan Preece for a wire-to-wire victory.
The combination of finishing position and passing points gave Larson 15 total points, good for the pole position for Sunday’s Food City Dirt Race at Thunder Valley (7 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Larson will start beside Austin Dillon, who drove from fifth to first in the opening heat race, scoring 14 points. Dirt specialist J.J. Yeley earned the third spot on the grid, driving from ninth to third behind Larson and Preece to earn 14 points in the third heat.
From the start of the third heat race, the top lane opened up for Larson, who passed fourth-place starter Matt Crafton and took full advantage when second-place Corey LaJoie dropped to the bottom lane.
That left only Erik Jones to overtake, and Larson did so expeditiously.
“The outside lane launched really well, and my car turned well enough to stay rotated and get by him,” Larson explained.
Christopher Bell, who ran third from eighth in the first heat, will start on the outside of the second row. Defending race winner Kyle Busch will take the green flag from the fifth position, with Tyler Reddick to his outside.
Austin Cindric, Preece, Heat 2 winner Ryan Blaney and William Byron earned positions seven through 10, respectively. Heat 4 winner Bubba Wallace is 11th on the grid, having won the qualifier from the pole.
Dirt late model superstar Jonathan Davenport will make his Cup Series debut from the 21st position after starting second and finishing fourth in the final heat.
NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – Food City Dirt Race
Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt
Bristol, Tennessee
Saturday, April 8, 2023
1. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
2. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
3. (15) JJ Yeley(i), Ford, 0.000 mph.
4. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 0.000 mph.
5. (8) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
6. (45) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 0.000 mph.
7. (2) Austin Cindric, Ford, 0.000 mph.
8. (41) Ryan Preece, Ford, 0.000 mph.
9. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 0.000 mph.
10. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
11. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 0.000 mph.
12. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 0.000 mph.
13. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford, 0.000 mph.
14. (14) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 0.000 mph.
15. (38) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 0.000 mph.
16. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
17. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
18. (43) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
19. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford, 0.000 mph.
20. (21) Harrison Burton, Ford, 0.000 mph.
21. (13) Jonathan Davenport, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
22. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
23. (54) Ty Gibbs #, Toyota, 0.000 mph.
24. (51) Matt Crafton(i), Ford, 0.000 mph.
25. (31) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
26. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 0.000 mph.
27. (19) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 0.000 mph.
28. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, 0.000 mph.
29. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
30. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 0.000 mph.
31. (9) Josh Berry(i), Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
32. (77) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
33. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 0.000 mph.
34. (99) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
35. (7) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
36. (42) Noah Gragson #, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
37. (78) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
