AUSTIN, Tex: Cup Series invader Kyle Larson outshined the talent of the NASCAR Xfinity Series to earn the pole for Saturday afternoon’s Focused Health 250 at Circuit of the Americas.
Larson’s pole was a boost for the part-time Hendrick Motorsports Xfinity Series team that will see a host of Cup drivers pilot the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro throughout the Xfinity Series season.
The Las Vegas Cup winner bested Kaulig Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen for the top spot, with van Gisbergen earning his career-best starting position as an Xfinity Series rookie.
Larson will use the Xfinity Series 46-lap race on Saturday to gain additional seat time for his regular driving duties aboard the No.5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro on Sunday.
“It’s a handful for sure,” Larson said after winning his seventh career Xfinity pole. “I know we went fast there. I was expecting the Xfinity Series cars to have a little more grip. It was tough to get used to in practice. But Greg (Ives) and everybody on the No. 17 car did a good job with adjustments; I felt better.
“It’s still like just getting comfortable. I mean twenty minutes is not a long time. You mean only five — six laps in practice, and you gotta run hard in qualifying. All of us on pit road here on this pit road are still going to be learning tomorrow. Thankfully, for me, I get more laps in the Cup car tomorrow which will hopefully help some things out.
“Really cool to get a pole here for HendrickCars.com and we’ll see. We’ll see. It’s going to be tough, there’s going to be lots of slipping and sliding and it will be hard just to keep your car going straight.”
Ty Gibbs, in his first Xfinity Series start of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing, chimed in third quickest, with Phoenix Xfinity Series winner Chandler Smith in fourth and defending race winner AJ Allmendinger to close out the top five.
IndyCar and Road Racing standout Sage Karam qualified sixth in his No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota, with Sheldon Creed, Cole Custer, Daniel Hemric and Sam Mayer comprising the top-10.
Hemric was driving the No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro traditionally driven by Josh Williams. Williams is back home in North Carolina expecting the birth of his first child. He is expected to race on Saturday afternoon but will drop to the rear before the start of the race.
After enduring spins during their respective qualifying laps, Sammy Smith and Justin Allgaier will line up their JR Motorsports Chevrolets 13th and 15th.
Ed Jones, the former IndyCar driver will get a shot at redemption at Circuit of the Americas on Saturday. After suffering a mechanical failure in his Truck Series debut at COTA last year, Jones joined Sam Hunt Racing this year and will start 16th in the team’s second entry.
Daniil Kvyat, the former Formula One driver will start 22nd for SS-GreenLight Racing.
Austin Green, the son of former NASCAR Xfinity Series champion David Green and a standout in Trans Am competition qualified 25th in his Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet.
Alex Labbe will make his first Xfinity Series start of the season for Joey Gase Motorsports in 26th.
Brad Perez will continue to add COTA NASCAR laps to his resume by successfully qualifying a third Alpha Prime Racing car in 31st.
Road Racing driver Patrick Gallagher was the final car to qualify for the race based on qualifying speed, lining up his No. 4 JD Motorsports Chevrolet 33rd.
Leland Honeyman Jr., Hailie Deegan, Blaine Perkins, RC Enerson, and Ryan Ellis will start 34th through 38th, respectively based on provisionals.
Preston Pardus, the son of former Xfinity Series driver Dan Pardus, whipped his No. 50 Chevrolet Camaro to the 10th fastest speed in practice; however, his car broke an axle leaving pit road for qualifying, and he did not post a lap in time trials.
Without any owner points, Pardus joined Kaz Grala of RSS Racing as the two cars that failed to qualify for the first road course race of 2024.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01 or email at [email protected].
