Qualifying report

NASCAR Cup Dover

Kyle Larson edges Harvick and Truex for Dover pole

Kyle Larson was not the Chevrolet most were watching at Dover but perhaps they should have.

Jim Utter

Edited: May 5, 2018, 12:03 AM

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Polesitter Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet

Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet Camaro DC Solar

Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet Camaro Credit One Bank

Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford Fusion Jimmy John's

Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro

Martin Truex Jr., Furniture Row Racing, Toyota Camry 5-hour ENERGY/Bass Pro Shops

Larson was the first out in the last two rounds of knockout qualifying and blistered the field in both, using an average lap speed of 158.103 mph to win the pole for Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.

Kevin Harvick came closest to catching Larson, with an average speed of 157.494 mph in the final session. Martin Truex Jr. was third (157.432 mph). Kyle Busch was fourth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. completed the top-five.

The pole is the first of the season for Larson, fifth of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career and first at Dover.

“I felt like I nailed that last lap pretty good, all the way from coming to the green to getting through (Turns) 1 and 2 really good,” Larson said. “(Turns) 3 and 4, I may have left a little out there – I got in there pretty hot and up the track.

“I planned to move up the race track each round. The first round caught me off guard a little bit. I was really loose getting in but then we made some adjustments throughout the next two rounds. The second round we were probably a little too tight and we kind of found a happy medium there in the final round.

“I’ve always qualified well here but had yet to get a pole. I’ve always raced well here but we have yet to get a win. Maybe we’ll get both this weekend.”

The remainder of the Top 12 starters: Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones and Clint Bowyer.

Seven-time series champion and 11-time winner at Dover, Jimmie Johnson, will line up 19th.

Round 2

Larson was the first to go out in the second round and his average lap speed of 157.432 mph held up the rest of the session, and was the fastest of the day to this point.

Elliott was second (157.267 mph) and Suarez ended up third (157.068 mph). Stenhouse was fourth and Harvick completed the top-five.

Also advancing to the final round were Truex, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Bowyer, Hamlin, Keselowski and Jones.

Aric Almirola just missed the cutoff and ended up 13th. Among the others who failed to advance were Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Joey Logano, Johnson and William Byron.

“We were just tight. We were loose on entry in the first round and tight on exit so we tried to do something to fix it and ended up tight overall,” Blaney said. “I probably didn’t do the best job, either.”

Round 1

Kyle Busch led the way in the first 15-minute session of qualifying as most drivers waited several minutes before attempting to make a run, with temperatures soaring near 90 degrees.

Busch’s top average lap speed was 157.116 mph. He just ended Keselowski (156.883 mph), who ended up second, and Truex (156.678 mph) who was third.

Hamlin ended fourth and Blaney completed the top-five.

Among those who failed to advance to Round 2 were Kasey Kahne (who actually tied for 24th, the final transfer spot), Darrell Wallace Jr., Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon and A.J. Allmendinger.

“I love coming here and putting on a good show and having a good run and it’s a bummer where we ended up,” Wallace said. “We knew the track was going to slow down. Just frustrated with how much speed we actually had and it wasn’t good enough.”

Kahne and Ryan Newman tied on their initial list and tied again on the second laps. Since Newman is higher in points, he transferred to Round 2.

“It’s his lucky day,” Kahne said. “It’s for 24th, we’re still not talking about a very good position. It was really tight. We have some work to do. I look forward to practice tomorrow and trying to get better for the race.”

Corey LaJoie was the only driver not to participate in the first round of qualifying as his team was still preparing his car after it blew an engine in the final minutes of Friday’s practice session.

Cla#DriverManufacturerTimeGapMph 1 42 united_states Kyle Larson Chevrolet 22.770 158.103 2 4 Kevin Harvick Ford 22.858 0.088 157.494 3 78 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 22.867 0.097 157.432 4 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 22.897 0.127 157.226 5 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 22.929 0.159 157.006 6 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 22.969 0.199 156.733 7 19 mexico Daniel Suarez Toyota 22.997 0.227 156.542 8 2 united_states Brad Keselowski Ford 23.011 0.241 156.447 9 41 Kurt Busch Ford 23.035 0.265 156.284 10 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 23.078 0.308 155.993 11 20 Erik Jones Toyota 23.092 0.322 155.898 12 14 Clint Bowyer Ford 23.121 0.351 155.703 13 10 Aric Almirola Ford 23.096 0.326 155.871 14 12 united_states Ryan Blaney Ford 23.115 0.345 155.743 15 88 Alex Bowman Chevrolet 23.128 0.358 155.655 16 37 Chris Buescher Chevrolet 23.149 0.379 155.514 17 24 William Byron Chevrolet 23.179 0.409 155.313 18 22 Joey Logano Ford 23.181 0.411 155.300 19 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 23.193 0.423 155.219 20 21 united_states Paul Menard Ford 23.201 0.431 155.166 21 31 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 23.222 0.452 155.025 22 6 Trevor Bayne Ford 23.274 0.504 154.679 23 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 23.301 0.531 154.500 24 32 Matt DiBenedetto Ford 23.495 0.725 153.224 25 95 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 23.306 0.536 154.467 26 43 united_states Darrell Wallace Jr. Chevrolet 23.345 0.575 154.209 27 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 23.360 0.590 154.110 28 47 A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 23.375 0.605 154.011 29 34 Michael McDowell Ford 23.384 0.614 153.951 30 13 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 23.459 0.689 153.459 31 15 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 23.502 0.732 153.178 32 38 united_states David Ragan Ford 23.593 0.823 152.588 33 00 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 23.649 0.879 152.226 34 55 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 24.026 1.256 149.838 35 23 Gray Gaulding Toyota 24.048 1.278 149.701 36 99 Derrike Cope Chevrolet 24.884 2.114 144.671 37 51 Cody Ware Ford 25.442 2.672 141.498

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