By virtue of the qualifying metric used for most of the 2021 season, Kyle Larson found himself on the pole by default more often than not. For the season finale at Phoenix Raceway, time trial qualifying made a long-awaited comeback — and by virtue of being the fastest, Larson will sit on the pole one more time this season.
After going out next to last in qualifying, Larson laid down a scorching lap to take the pole for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. Larson’s time of 26.116 seconds (137.847 mph) was faster than teammate Chase Elliott (26.289) by nearly two full tenths of a second.
Larson and Elliott are the best of the Championship 4, as they will start from the front row while Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. will start sixth and 12th, respectively.
Despite the results of qualifying, there is a difficulty for three of the four title contenders: Larson, Hamlin, and Truex’s teams all failed pre-qualifying tech inspection twice, resulting in the ejection of their car chiefs. Elliott’s car passed tech inspection without issue.
With 39 cars having entered Sunday’s race for a maximum of 40 spots in the field, all drivers who attempted to qualify made the race.
NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race starting lineup
1. #5 – Kyle Larson – 26.116 (137.847 MPH)
2. #9 – Chase Elliott
3. #24 – William Byron
4. #12 – Ryan Blaney
5. #1 – Kurt Busch
6. #11 – Denny Hamlin
7. #41 – Cole Custer
8. #20 – Christopher Bell
9. #4 – Kevin Harvick
10. #22 – Joey Logano
11. #2 – Brad Keselowski
12. #19 – Martin Truex Jr.
13. #18 – Kyle Busch
14. #21 – Matt DiBenedetto
15. #48 – Alex Bowman
16. #42 – Ross Chastain
17. #99 – Daniel Suarez
18. #10 – Aric Almirola
19. #6 – Ryan Newman
20. #8 – Tyler Reddick
21. #47 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
22. #14 – Chase Briscoe (R)
23. #3 – Austin Dillon
24. #7 – Corey LaJoie
25. #23 – Bubba Wallace
26. #17 – Chris Buescher
27. #43 – Erik Jones
28. #34 – Michael McDowell
29. #77 – Justin Haley
30. #38 – Anthony Alfredo (R)
31. #37 – Ryan Preece
32. #78 – B.J. McLeod
33. #51 – Cody Ware
34. #53 – Joey Gase
35. #00 – Quin Houff
36. #13 – David Starr
37. #52 – Josh Bilicki
38. #15 – Garrett Smithley
39. #66 – Timmy Hill
