Race Weekend Central

Larson Wins Second Consecutive Cup Series Pole at Sonoma

Kyle Larson took the pole for the Toyota-Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway, the first road course race on the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series schedule, on Saturday afternoon (June 24) with a lap of 75.177 seconds. Larson’s teammate Jamie McMurray trailed the pole winner, at a time of 75.249 seconds. Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, and AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top five.

Larson, however, didn’t even think he’d won the pole as he finished his lap. “The whole lap was pretty bad,” Larson said, proceeding to list the turns where he thought he made mistakes. “I was surprised…This is cool to get a pole on a road course, my home state…lot of friends and family here.” This was Larson’s second consecutive pole position and his third of 2017.

Chase Elliott led the first round with a time of 75.117 seconds, the fastest time of the session, but was only able to qualify eighth in the final round, slowing down by about one half-second. Elliott was trailed by Truex, Kyle Busch, McMurray, and Chris Buescher in the first round.

The session featured no stoppages. Matt Kenseth was the only driver who failed to post a time. Kenseth was to start from the rear of the field due to an engine change, regardless of his qualifying position.

The Toyota-Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway takes place on Sunday (June 25) at 3 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.

About the author

Matteo Marcheschi is a 17-year-old race fan from the Chicago, Illinois, area. He is also a photographer and an amateur meteorologist.

Sign up for the Frontstretch Newsletter

A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.

Share via