Larson seeks first victory of season
Kyle Larson won his third pole of the season as he eyes his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the year.
Larson turned a lap at 127.792 mph Friday in qualifying at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee. Chase Elliott was second at 127.665.
Kyle Busch was third on a track that he has mastered throughout his career. Busch will be seeking his eighth Cup victory Saturday night at Bristol.
Larson calls this his favorite track, but he has never won here. He believes that could change Saturday night.
“We’ve been close so many times,” Larson said. “I feel like we’ve been second or third and led the most laps here so many times.”
Larson’s 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 July 1 at Chicagoland, where he went on to finish fourth.
Saturday night 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.
Two more retirements
Two more drivers are headed to the checkered flag of their NASCAR careers and the laps are winding down for a golden age of racing.
Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadlerboth said this will be their final season of racing full time as they become the latest two veterans to find they no longer want to be part of the traveling circus. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Danica Patrick already have given up their seats in stock cars to spend more time doing, well, everything they’ve missed in life.
Kahne and Sadler, who have a combined 1,589 starts at the NASCAR national level, want to spend more time with their kids and not spend 38 weekends a year at a track.
Truex seeks sponsor
Martin Truex Jr. says his return to his championship-winning race team is dependent on sponsorship. Truex is locked in a fierce battle with former NASCAR champions Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick in his push to defend his 2017 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. Truex said he hopes to have a better idea on what his future holds in the next few weeks.