Larson takes pole in drive to halt drought

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kyle Larson won his third pole of the season Friday as he eyes his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the year. He turned a lap at 127.792 mph Friday in qualifying at Bristol Motor Speedway. Chase Elliott was second at 127.665.

Kyle Busch was third on a track that he’s mastered throughout his career. Busch will be seeking his eighth Cup victory at Bristol in tonight’s race, which marks the 40th anniversary of Bristol’s traditional latesummer Cup race. The threat of inclement weather has caused the starting time for the race to move up to 6:45 p.m., an hour earlier than the originally scheduled start.

Friday night Larson capitalized on Busch’s early exit to win the Xfinity Series race for his first victory ever at the track he calls his favorite. Larson believes his Cup fortunes could change tonight, too.

“We’ve been close so many times,” Larson said.

His chances of winning could depend on whether he can hold off Busch, who already has seven Cup victories at Bristol. Busch has won six Cup races this year and holds a narrow lead over Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. in the season standings. Harvick qualified sixth.

Truex didn’t make it out of the second round of qualifying and will start 17th out of 40 cars. That represents his lowest qualifying position since he started 36th on July 1 at Chicagoland, where he went on to finish fourth.

The defending season champion Truex also said on Friday that he needs sponsorship to stay with his championship-winning race team. Truex is locked in a fierce battle with former champs Kyle Busch and Harvick in his push to defend last year’s Cup Series title. His Furniture Row Racing team is in the mix even though the future of the No. 78 team is in flux. Furniture Row is seeking a primary sponsor for next year and does not have contracts with Truex or manufacturer Toyota. He said he hopes to have a better idea on what his future holds in the next few weeks.

“Right now, we need sponsorship. That’s as simple as it gets,” Truex said. “Is there a 50 percent chance we get that in the next couple of weeks? Or is there a 100 percent chance? Or is there 2 percent? I don’t know. I can tell you that everything really is based upon that.”