After placing first during Saturday’s qualifying for Sunday’s AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway, driver Kyle Larson kept Hendrick Motorsports up front with a milestone effort, capturing the NASCAR Cup Series organization’s 250th pole position.
Completing his hot lap at 190.369 mph, it marked the fastest qualifying rotation at 1.5-mile track in a Gen-7 machine. Larson, who will start on the inside of the front row for the third straight Cup outing, has earned a pole at 13 different venues.
“It’s cool to get three poles in a row,” Larson told Fox Sports. “It’s been a fun week so far.”
In preparation Memorial Day weekend appearance, Larson on Wednesday ran Indianapolis 500 practice laps.
“That was cool,” Larson said after capturing his first pole position at Texas.
Ty Gibbs (190.134 mph) will start next to Larson, after pacing the practice field with a best lap of 28.345 seconds
Christopher Bell, who earned three consecutive poles last season, will begin P3 Sunday.
Kyle Larson is a wheelman. pic.twitter.com/TEtMY7XDXD
— Skewcar (@Skewcar) April 10, 2024
Chase Elliott Attempting To Keep Hendrick Motorsports On Top
What can Hendrick Motorsports do to top 1-2-3 finish at Martinsville Speedway last Sunday? Well, not much, but if Chase Elliott can halt his 42-race winless streak, it could come close.
Is Elliott, the circuit’s six-time most valuable driver, close to visiting Victory Lane again? Over his past five outings, Elliott has recorded four top-fives and five top-10s. He placed P3 at Martinsville as Hendrick’s garage swept the podium 40 years after the organization won its first Cup event. Elliott followed race-winner William Byron and Larson.
Elliott paced the field for 23 rotations last Sunday.
“Glad one of us (at Hendrick) got it done,” Elliott said, as reported by The Charlotte Observer. “Nice to have a couple of solid weeks, and to be there in contention for a win is — haven’t been in contention to win one in a while.”
Elliott’s last win came at Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 2, 2022.
“I feel like throughout a lot of the season this year we’ve just been going in a very positive direction,” said Elliott, who qualified 24th Saturday at Texas. “If we keep producing that, we’ll get our turn one day.”
“I would rather wait out of a weeping racetrack than I had work with or watch what we have now.” -Chase Elliott comments on Texas’ racing since the repave in 2016:
📹@stephen_stumpf #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/8GVjzXCoaP
— Frontstretch (@Frontstretch) April 13, 2024
Starting Lineup for AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400
Here is a look at the lineup for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series’ AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway:
Starting Position, Driver, Car No., Team
- 1, Kyle Larson, 5, Hendrick Motorsports
- 2, Ty Gibbs, 54, Joe Gibbs Racing
- 3, Christopher Bell, 20, Joe Gibbs Racing
- 4, Tyler Reddick, 45, 23XI Racing
- 5, Chase Briscoe, 14, Stewart-Haas Racing
- 6, William Byron, 24, Hendrick Motorsports
- 7, Ryan Blaney, 12, Team Penske
- 8, Austin Cindric, 2, Team Penske
- 9, Martin Truex Jr., 19, Joe Gibbs Racing
- 10, Bubba Wallace, 23, 23XI Racing
- 11, Denny Hamlin, 11, Joe Gibbs Racing
- 12, Ross Chastain, 1, Trackhouse Racing
- 13, Michael McDowell, 34, Front Row Motorsports
- 14, Alex Bowman, 48, Hendrick Motorsports
- 15, Austin Dillon, 3, Richard Childress Racing
- 16, Carson Hocevar, 77, Spire Motorsports
- 17, Daniel Suarez, 99, Trackhouse Racing
- 18, Zane Smith, 71, Spire Motorsports
- 19, Chris Buescher, 17, RFK Racing
- 20, Joey Logano, 22, Team Penske
- 21, Noah Gragson, 10, Stewart-Haas Racing
- 22, Brad Keselowski, 6, RFK Racing
- 23, Corey LaJoie, 7, Spire Motorsports
- 24, Chase Elliott, 9, Hendrick Motorsports
- 25, Josh Berry, 4, Stewart-Haas Racing
- 26, Ryan Preece, 41, Stewart-Haas Racing
- 27, Erik Jones, 43, Legacy Motor Club
- 28, Todd Gilliland, 38, Front Row Motorsports
- 29, Harrison Burton, 21, Wood Brothers Racing
- 30, John H. Nemechek, 42, Legacy Motor Club
- 31, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 47, JTG Daugherty Racing
- 32, Justin Haley, 51, Rick Ware Racing
- 33, Kaz Grala, 15, Rick Ware Racing
- 34, Austin Hill, 33, Richarch Childress Racing
- 35, Kyle Busch, 8, Richard Childress Racing
- 36, Ty Dillon, 16, Kaulig Racing
- 37, Jimmie Johnson, 84, Legacy Motor Club
- 38, Daniel Hemric, 31, Kaulig Racing
.@JimmieJohnson gets loose and hits the wall! pic.twitter.com/LWOOEXYGxg
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 13, 2024
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