CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Hendrick Motorsports’ quest to pass Petty Enterprises as the NASCAR Cup Series race team with the most wins all-time got off to a good start on Saturday as Kyle Larson captured the pole for the Coca-Cola 600, with two of his teammates starting in the row behind him.
Ricky Stenhouse will start second, followed by Hendrick teammates Chase Elliott and William Byron. Chevrolets dominated qualifying by taking six of the top seven spots for NASCAR’s longest race, a grueling 400-lap marathon at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Car owner Rick Hendrick's other driver, Alex Bowman, will start seventh.
Hendrick Motorsports is tied with Petty Enterprises with 268 Cup Series wins.
Larson captured his first pole since June 2019 at Sonoma with a lap of 180.282 mph, narrowly edging Stenhouse in the one-lap qualifying by .07 seconds.
“It's really cool for the Chevys,” Larson said. “There are lot of Chevys up toward the front of the field.”
Elliott is going for back-to-back victories after capturing last week's rain-shortened race at Circuit of The Americas for his first win of the season.
“Really proud of our No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team for continuing to push forward," said Elliott. "We had a nice win last week, which is always good. I feel like we’ve been in a good place really the last two or three weeks before that. I think we’re going to be plenty good enough for 600-miles and a good pit selection, which is important. Looking forward to it.”
WDUN carry live PRN Radio coverage of Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 from Charlotte Motor Speedway at 5 pm on 102.9 FM, AM 550 and streaming live on AccessWDUN.
WDUN will also carry live IMS Radio Network coverage of the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 - the "Greatest Spectacle In Racing" - on Sunday beginning at 12 pm on 102.9 FM, at 1 pm on AM 550 and streaming live beginning at 12 pm on AccessWDUN.
NASCAR Cup Series
Charlotte Motor Speedway – Concord, NC
Coca-Cola 600 – May 30, 2021
Saturday’s Qualifying Results
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
1. 5 Kyle Larson Metro Tech Chevrolet 29.953 180.282
2. 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Cottonelle Chevrolet 29.960 180.240
3. 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 29.969 180.186
4. 24 William Byron Liberty University Chevrolet 29.970 180.180
5. 4 Kevin Harvick Mobil 1 Ford 29.993 180.042
6. 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Chevrolet 30.029 179.826
7. 48 Alex Bowman Ally Patriotic Chevrolet 30.045 179.730
8. 19 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Red White Blue Toyota 30.064 179.617
9. 99 Daniel Suarez Camping World Chevrolet 30.069 179.587
10. 42 Ross Chastain Advent Health Chevrolet 30.072 179.569
11. 12 Ryan Blaney BodyArmor EDGE Ford 30.090 179.462
12. 1 Kurt Busch GEARWRENCH Chevrolet 30.090 179.462
13. 2 Brad Keselowski Keystone Light Ford 30.111 179.336
14. 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Freight Toyota 30.112 179.330
15. 8 Tyler Reddick Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet 30.143 179.146
16. 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 30.146 179.128
17. 20 Christopher Bell Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Toyota 30.159 179.051
18. 23 Bubba Wallace DoorDash Toyota 30.207 178.767
19. 43 Erik Jones Petty’s Garage Chevrolet 30.231 178.625
20. 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Red White & Blue Toyota 30.241 178.566
21. 14 Chase Briscoe # HighPoint.com Ford 30.270 178.394
22. 21 Matt DiBenedetto Menards/Masterforce Tools Ford 30.274 178.371
23. 41 Cole Custer Feeding America/Wow Wow Ford 30.298 178.230
24. 34 Michael McDowell Fr8Auctions Ford 30.323 178.083
25. 6 Ryan Newman Kohler Generators Ford 30.325 178.071
26. 7 Corey LaJoie Diamond Creek Water Chevrolet 30.330 178.042
27. 17 Chris Buescher Fifth Thrid Bank Ford 30.336 178.006
28. 37 Ryan Preece Kroger/Coca-Cola Chevrolet 30.402 177.620
29. 38 Anthony Alfredo # Death Wish Coffee Ford 30.415 177.544
30. 77 Justin Haley(i) Walmart Chevrolet 30.708 175.850
31. 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 30.834 175.131
32. 00 Quin Houff 8 Ball Chocolate Whiskey Chevrolet 30.939 174.537
33. 78 BJ McLeod(i) Solomon Plumbing Ford 30.952 174.464
34. 53 Cody Ware(i) US Marines Military Salutes Chevrolet 30.971 174.357
35. 15 James Davison NAVY Military Salutes Chevrolet 31.493 171.467
36. 51 Garrett Smithley(i) Air Force Military Salutes Chevrolet 31.499 171.434
37. 52 Josh Bilicki US Army Military Salutes Ford 31.569 171.054
38. 66 David Starr(i) Richardson Service Toyota 33.071 163.285
