FORT WORTH, Texas – Kyle Larson secures his 19th career NASCAR Cup Series pole at Texas Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Autotrader Echo Park 400.
It comes at a time of monumental milestones for Hendrick Motorsports, earning the organization’s 250th pole at stock car racing’s highest level.
“Whenever you can kind of be ‘the guy’, I guess, to know that your name is going to be next to that milestone number – it’s pretty special,” Larson said after his third consecutive pole in Fort Worth. “Like when I was able to be a part of win 269, you feel the excitement; the happiness from Rick (Hendrick) and everybody that’s been a part of the organization for a long time. And then, even being out there on the opposite side of things – with William (Byron) winning 300 last year here at Texas, I was obviously super bummed because I was dominating the race and lost, but at the same point, I was really happy for the team. Even last week, I’m obviously bummed I didn’t win, but super, super happy for the team.
“Especially this year, being the 40th anniversary season for Hendrick Motorsports, there’s these milestones that are all kind of coming up right now. It’s just cool to get the 250th Cup Series pole, and I feel like I’m contributing to the record books at Hendrick Motorsports.”
The purple lap time set at 190.369 mph in the final round of qualifying was just .003 seconds faster than sophomore driver Ty Gibbs.
“Great car for one, and cool to get three poles in a row and like I said on the radio, that’s about the most intense thing you can do or experience, it’s so on edge,’’ Larson said of qualifying on the always-challenging 1.5-mile Texas high banks. “You know how much throttle time you have to have to run fast. It’s just so sketchy.
“Yeah, that was cool. Just a great day and I’m really, really happy to get pole. Honestly since we’ve gone to the NextGen car this has been a place I’ve really struggled in qualifying, like committing into Turn one and I told myself I was going to commit today, and it paid off.’’
Beyond that, Larson continues to lead the graduates from NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program. Combined across NASCAR’s top three touring series, he won the pole at Richmond Raceway for the 50th across diversity drivers who have won a pole, including Daniel Suarez, Bubba Wallace, Rajah Caruth and this weekend’s Truck pole winner Nick Sanchez. Established in 2004, the fruits of those labors appear to be reaping and sowing in American motorsports.
“It’s just really cool to see it all paying off. I think now, you’re seeing it pay off because these drivers are in really good equipment. You need good equipment in this sport, but it takes a large investment and they’ve been able to do that here lately. It seems like the last few years have helped get their drivers in some good stuff.
“I definitely always cheer those drivers on. When they can get a pole or get a win, it’s definitely good for the program.”
Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe completed the top 5. Briscoe leads all drivers this year with most top 10 starting positions. William Byron, reigning champion Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, Martin Truex Jr and Wallace round out the top 10 in Saturday’s qualifying session.
FS1 will broadcast the NASCAR Cup Series AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, April 14, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can also be found on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.