NASCAR Cup Series: Kyle Larson takes pole for 2018 Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race
By Asher Fair
Kyle Larson took the pole position for the 24th race of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season, the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson earned his third pole position of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season in the season’s 24th race, the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, at Bristol Motor Speedway. He also took the pole positions for the AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover International Speedway back in May and the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway back in June.
Larson took the pole position for the 500-lap race by recording a top lap time of 15.015 seconds (127.792 miles per hour) around the four-turn, 0.533-mile (0.858-kilometer) Bristol Motor Speedway oval in Bristol, Tennessee in his #42 Chevrolet in the third and final round of qualifying.
Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott qualified in second place in his #9 Chevrolet, giving Chevrolet drivers a front row sweep on the starting grid for the race. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch is the highest qualifying Toyota driver of the race. He qualified in third in his #18 Toyota.
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Wood Brothers Racing’s Paul Menard is the highest qualifying Ford driver of the race. He qualified in fourth place in his #21 Ford. Hendrick Motorsports rookie William Byron rounded out the top five in fifth in his #24 Chevrolet, giving Chevrolet drivers three of the top five starting positions for the race.
Of the 12 drivers who advanced to the third and final round of qualifying, seven are Ford drivers, three are Chevrolet drivers and two are Toyota drivers. Aside of Busch, the only other Toyota driver who qualified in the top 12 is Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin. He qualified in seventh place in his #11 Toyota.
Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola and Kurt Busch qualified in sixth, eighth and ninth place in their #4 Ford, #10 Ford and #41 Ford, respectively.
Team Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski qualified in 10th and 11th in their #12 Ford and #2 Ford, respectively. Roush Fenway Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top 12 in 12th in his #17 Ford.
Here are the full qualifying results for the 2018 Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
| Qualifying Results |
| 1st – Kyle Larson |
| 2nd – Chase Elliott |
| 3rd – Kyle Busch |
| 4th – Paul Menard |
| 5th – William Byron |
| 6th – Kevin Harvick |
| 7th – Denny Hamlin |
| 8th – Aric Almirola |
| 9th – Kurt Busch |
| 10th – Ryan Blaney |
| 11th – Brad Keselowski |
| 12th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
| 13th – Jimmie Johnson |
| 14th – Erik Jones |
| 15th – David Ragan |
| 16th – Clint Bowyer |
| 17th – Martin Truex Jr. |
| 18th – Austin Dillon |
| 19th – Joey Logano |
| 20th – Jamie McMurray |
| 21st – Daniel Suarez |
| 22nd – Alex Bowman |
| 23rd – Trevor Bayne |
| 24th – Ryan Newman |
| 25th – A.J. Allmendinger |
| 26th – Kasey Kahne |
| 27th – Darrell Wallace Jr. |
| 28th – Chris Buescher |
| 29th – Matt DiBenedetto |
| 30th – Corey Lajoie |
| 31st – Michael McDowell |
| 32st – Ty Dillon |
| 33nd – Jesse Little |
| 34rd – J.J. Yeley |
| 35th – Ross Chastain |
| 36th – Reed Sorenson |
| 37th – Timmy Hill |
| 38th – Gray Gaulding |
| 39th – Landon Cassill |
| 40th – Blake Jones |
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Just three races remain in the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series regular season, so be sure to tune in to NBC Sports Network tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m. ET for the live broadcast of the first of those three races, the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.