Logano earns pole at Darlington; Larson also on front row
DARLINGTON, S.C. — Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick, both of them former NASCAR Cup Series champions, will start at the rear of the field Sunday at Darlington Raceway. Denny Hamlin — who has done just about everything except win a Cup Series title — will be back there, too.
Elliott and Harvick had trouble Saturday in practice. Hamlin had problems in qualifying later in the day.
All three will have lots of ground to make up on Joey Logano, the 2018 season champion who earned the 23rd pole position of his Cup Series career. Logano reached 170.720 mph in the Team Penske No. 22 Ford and turned a fast lap of 28.805 seconds to clinch the top spot in qualifying, edging Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet.
Larson will start second, one row ahead of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Christopher Bell and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., who secured the best starting spot for a Toyota driver. Brothers Kyle and Kurt Busch will fill the third row, assuming Kyle makes the race.
The younger Busch is awaiting the birth of his second child through a surrogate mother, and Trevor Bayne is on standby for JGR in case Busch has to leave Darlington. Busch shared tips with Bayne after his qualifying run.
“I think it’s always a hard decision, but I think you can live down missing a race but you’ll never live down not being there for the birth of your kid,” said Busch, a twotime Cup Series champ.
Busch and everyone else up front enjoyed problem-free qualifying runs. Elliott, Harvick and Hamlin couldn’t say the same.
Elliott crashed because of a flat tire during a practice run and damaged the front of his Hendrick Chevy, forcing his team to scramble to get a backup car put together.
“I recognized it was flat; it was just a little too late,” said Elliott, who won this past Monday at Dover Motor Speedway. “By that point, it started to come apart and you’re just kind of along for the ride.”
It was the latest setback for Elliott, who was scheduled to drive in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race in a fifth car for JR Motorsports but did not make the event when qualifying was canceled by rain Friday.
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Harvick blew a tire in practice and did enough damage that he was unable to make a qualifying attempt in his Ford.
Hamlin, who won the Southern 500 at Darlington last September, damaged the diffuser during his qualifying run. Replacing it forced the JGR veteran to the rear of the field.