Kyle Larson won the pole for the Autotrader Echopark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway in qualifying on Saturday. In the final round, he posted a lap of 28.366 (190.369 MPH) to earn his third consecutive Cup Series pole. Larson is the first driver to win three consecutive poles this season and the first overall since Christopher Bell pulled off the feat in September of last year.
Coming off of a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Hendrick Motorsports at Martinsville, Larson continued to make history for NASCAR's most successful race team: His pole marks the 250th pole in Hendrick Motorsports history, dating back to 1984 when Geoff Bodine won the team's first pole ever at Bristol.
While the 2021 Cup Series champion continued his success on pole day, two other former Cup champions wound up being ensnared by a treacherous and unforgiving Texas surface. Two-time Cup champ Kyle Busch was the first to find misfortune in Group B practice, as he would spin and back his primary car into the outside wall on the exit of turn 2, forcing him to a backup car for Sunday's race.
Not the way Friday night's winner wanted to start his Saturday. pic.twitter.com/yvFQ2RTd5q
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 13, 2024
Shortly after Busch had his issues, seven-time Cup champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson -- making his second start of the year in a third Legacy Motor Club car -- got sideways in the middle of Turns 1 and 2 and hit the wall himself. Johnson did not make a qualifying attempt after his accident, and he will roll off 37th on Sunday just behind Busch in 35th.
.@JimmieJohnson gets loose and hits the wall! pic.twitter.com/LWOOEXYGxg
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 13, 2024
William Byron, last week's winner at Martinsville and the defending Texas winner, will start sixth as he looks for his fourth win in the first nine races of the 2024 season.
Autotrader Echopark Automotive 400 starting lineup
- #5 - Kyle Larson
- #54 - Ty Gibbs
- #20 - Christopher Bell
- #45 - Tyler Reddick
- #14 - Chase Briscoe
- #24 - William Byron
- #12 - Ryan Blaney
- #2 - Austin Cindric
- #19 - Martin Truex Jr.
- #23 - Bubba Wallace
- #11 - Denny Hamlin
- #1 - Ross Chastain
- #34 - Michael McDowell
- #48 - Alex Bowman
- #3 - Austin Dillon
- #77 - Carson Hocevar (R)
- #99 - Daniel Suarez
- #71 - Zane Smith (R)
- #17 - Chris Buescher
- #22 - Joey Logano
- #10 - Noah Gragson
- #6 - Brad Keselowski
- #7 - Corey LaJoie
- #9 - Chase Elliott
- #4 - Josh Berry (R)
- #41 - Ryan Preece
- #43 - Erik Jones
- #38 - Todd Gilliland
- #21 - Harrison Burton
- #42 - John Hunter Nemechek
- #47 - Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- #51 - Justin Haley
- #15 - Kaz Grala (R)
- #33 - Austin Hill
- #8 - Kyle Busch
- #16 - Ty Dillon
- #84 - Jimmie Johnson
- #31 - Daniel Hemric