When we last saw Kyle Larson in NASCAR Cup Series competition, the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet stunned Denny Hamlin and everyone by capturing the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series championship at Phoenix Raceway.
Fast forward to Wednesday, and Larson took the pole position for the twice-postponed NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium.
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Larson, 33, took the top starting spot for Wednesday evening’s preseason exhibition event with a lap time of 14.137 seconds in the final group of qualifiers that took to the track on Wednesday afternoon
Last season, Larson had to advance to the Cook Out Clash Main Event through the Last Chance Qualifier. Understandably, he was surprised that he grabbed the pole position, even crazier, Larson’s dashboard malfunctioned and didn’t show his actual lap times.
“Yeah, caught a bit off guard, there. I was not expecting to get the pole,” Larson laughed. “And two, we have lap times on our dash, I never saw anything close to a [14.]13 on my dash. The quickest I saw was like a [14.]23, I think. I was like, ‘well, at least I’m in the show, but it’s not very good.'”
While Larson didn’t expect to snag the pole position for the race, the driver was able to narrowly defeat William Byron, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, by a margin of 0.004 seconds.
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Ty Gibbs, who held the top spot for the majority of the qualifying session, would settle for the third starting spot, and he’ll be joined by Chase Briscoe, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, who will start from the fourth position.
Christopher Bell rounded out the top-five qualifiers in the session, ahead of Denny Hamlin, who revealed in a media availability on Wednesday that he tore his right shoulder in the offseason and will race injured throughout the 2026 season.
The surprise of the session was likely Connor Zilisch, a contender for the NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year Award in 2026. Zilisch, making his first start at a short track in the NASCAR Cup Series, was able to secure the 19th-fastest lap time in qualifying, which automotically advances him to the Cook Out Clash Main Event on Wednesday evening.
The 20 drivers, who are moving onto the Main Event include: Larson, Byron, Gibbs, Briscoe, Bell, Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott, Carson Hocevar, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney, Shane van Gisbergen, Ryan Preece, Zilisch, and Daniel Suarez.
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While Alex Bowman failed to clock into the top-20 in the session, he will also advance to the Main Event by virtue of a provisional for the driver highest in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series championship standings, who hadn’t already advanced to the Main Event.
The other 17 drivers, who failed to lock in, will battle it out in a Last Chance Qualifier race on Wednesday afternoon. Two of the drivers will join Bowman in advancing to the Main Event field.
Cook Out Clash Last Chance Qualifier Starting Lineup:
|
Pos |
Car |
Driver |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
21 |
Josh Berry |
|
2 |
71 |
Michael McDowell |
|
3 |
2 |
Austin Cindric |
|
4 |
6 |
Corey LaJoie |
|
5 |
48 |
Alex Bowman |
|
6 |
35 |
Riley Herbst |
|
7 |
51 |
Cody Ware |
|
8 |
16 |
AJ Allmendinger |
|
9 |
41 |
Cole Custer |
|
10 |
42 |
John Hunter Nemechek |
|
11 |
34 |
Todd Gilliland |
|
12 |
10 |
Ty Dillon |
|
13 |
4 |
Noah Gragson |
|
14 |
47 |
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
|
15 |
38 |
Zane Smith |
|
16 |
43 |
Erik Jones |
|
17 |
66 |
Chad Finchum |
|
18 |
50 |
Burt Myers |
The Cook Out Clash Last Chance Qualifier will be televised on FOX with coverage beginning at 4:30 PM ET. The Cook Out Clash Main Event will go live on FOX at 6 PM ET.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/onsi/racing-america as Kyle Larson Secures Top Starting Spot for Clash; LCQ Lineup Set.
