Larson on pole for NASCAR Cup race

Kyle Larson won the pole for today's NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway, turning a fast lap at 96.034 mph to edge Bubba Wallace for the top spot by one one-thousandth of a second.

Wallace completed his best lap around the 0.526mile oval at 96.029 mph. He and Larson were the only two drivers to exceed 96 mph in their qualifying laps.

Larson, the defending race winner, will lead a contingent of four Hendrick Motorsports cars in the race, which marks the first of the organization's 28 victories on the paper-clip shaped track 40 years ago. Teammate Chase Elliott will start third, Alex Bowman will start 10th and William Byron 18th.

• Aric Almirola grabbed the lead by going three-wide on the outside in a two-lap dash to the finish and won the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday night.

Almirola, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, outran Sam Mayer and teammate Chandler Smith before a crash made the race official. Carson Kvapil was fourth in his Xfinity debut and Justin Allgaier was fifth.

• Max Verstappen was asked a few days ago if he had concerns going into the Japanese Grand Prix. His rear brakes caught fire just two weeks ago at the Australian GP, forcing him out on the fourth lap.

“No, no,” Verstappen replied.

True to his word. No worries. The Dutchman claimed the pole for Red Bull in Saturday qualifying, poised to return to his unprecedented dominance in Formula 1 after the blip in Australia.

• John Force raced to his record 156th NHRA victory and first in two years, with the 74-year-old Funny Car great powering past Matt Hagan on Saturday at Firebird Motorsports Park in the completion of the postponed Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals.

Force had a 4.033-second run at 318.24 mph in his Chevrolet Camaro SS for his eighth victory in the event postponed two weeks ago at Pomona in California.