Kyle Larson wins Coke 600 pole as Chevys dominate

Larson was among the last five cars to attempt a qualifying lap and bolted to the top with an average lap speed of 180.282 mph.

“A little surprised by it, but happy,” Larson said. “This is a tough place to pass after watching last year’s race.

“Good to be up front, hopefully we can stay there all race long.”

The pole is Larson’s first of the 2021 season and ninth of his career. His most recent pole came in the 2019 season at Sonoma, Calif.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ended up second (180.240 mph), and Larson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott (180.186 mph) and William Byron (180.180 mph) were third and fourth, respectively. Kevin Harvick ended up fifth (180.042 mph).

Completing the top-10 were Austin Dillon – who was fastest in practice on Friday, Alex Bowman, Martin Truex Jr., Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain.

“Yesterday was closer to what we’ll see in race time, which was nice,” Dillon said. “Guessing on qualifying is tough because you’re trying to run open.”

In all, all four Hendrick drivers qualified in the top seven and Chevys claimed eight of the top-10 starting positions.

Cla	#	Driver		Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	5	Kyle Larson		Chevrolet	1	29.953			180.282
2	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		Chevrolet	1	29.960	0.007	0.007	180.240
3	9	Chase Elliott		Chevrolet	1	29.969	0.016	0.009	180.186
4	24	William Byron		Chevrolet	1	29.970	0.017	0.001	180.180
5	4	Kevin Harvick		Ford	1	29.993	0.040	0.023	180.042
6	3	Austin Dillon		Chevrolet	1	30.029	0.076	0.036	179.826
7	48	Alex Bowman		Chevrolet	1	30.045	0.092	0.016	179.730
8	19	Martin Truex Jr.		Toyota	1	30.064	0.111	0.019	179.617
9	99	Daniel Suarez		Chevrolet	1	30.069	0.116	0.005	179.587
10	42	Ross Chastain		Chevrolet	1	30.072	0.119	0.003	179.569
11	1	Kurt Busch		Chevrolet	1	30.090	0.137	0.018	179.462
12	12	Ryan Blaney		Ford	1	30.090	0.137	0.000	179.462
13	2	Brad Keselowski		Ford	1	30.111	0.158	0.021	179.336
14	11	Denny Hamlin		Toyota	1	30.112	0.159	0.001	179.330
15	8	Tyler Reddick		Chevrolet	1	30.143	0.190	0.031	179.146
16	22	Joey Logano		Ford	1	30.146	0.193	0.003	179.128
17	20	Christopher Bell		Toyota	1	30.159	0.206	0.013	179.051
18	23	Bubba Wallace		Toyota	1	30.207	0.254	0.048	178.767
19	43	Erik Jones		Chevrolet	1	30.231	0.278	0.024	178.625
20	18	Kyle Busch		Toyota	1	30.241	0.288	0.010	178.566
21	14	Chase Briscoe		Ford	1	30.270	0.317	0.029	178.394
22	21	Matt DiBenedetto		Ford	1	30.274	0.321	0.004	178.371
23	41	Cole Custer		Ford	1	30.298	0.345	0.024	178.230
24	34	Michael McDowell		Ford	1	30.323	0.370	0.025	178.083
25	6	Ryan Newman		Ford	1	30.325	0.372	0.002	178.071
26	7	Corey Lajoie		Chevrolet	1	30.330	0.377	0.005	178.042
27	17	Chris Buescher		Ford	1	30.336	0.383	0.006	178.006
28	37	Ryan Preece		Chevrolet	1	30.402	0.449	0.066	177.620
29	38	Anthony Alfredo		Ford	1	30.415	0.462	0.013	177.544
30	77	Justin Haley		Chevrolet	1	30.708	0.755	0.293	175.850
31	10	Aric Almirola		Ford	1	30.834	0.881	0.126	175.131
32	00	Quin Houff		Chevrolet	1	30.939	0.986	0.105	174.537
33	78	B.J. McLeod		Ford	1	30.952	0.999	0.013	174.464
34	53	Cody Ware		Ford	1	30.971	1.018	0.019	174.357
35	15	James Davison		Chevrolet	1	31.493	1.540	0.522	171.467
36	51	Garrett Smithley		Chevrolet	1	31.499	1.546	0.006	171.434
37	52	Josh Bilicki		Ford	1	31.569	1.616	0.070	171.054
38	66	David Starr		Ford	1	33.071	3.118	1.502	163.285