Kyle Larson will start eighth for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway after turning a lap of 15.192 seconds in qualifying, a solid launch for a driver who has won two of his last three starts at the track.
Larson’s position gives Hendrick Motorsports another front-running presence as the team heads into a weekend that follows Chase Elliott’s breakthrough win at Martinsville Speedway two weeks ago, the organization’s first victory of the season. Elliott will roll off 18th at Bristol, while Alex Bowman starts 27th and William Byron 34th.
Bowman’s return may matter as much as any starting spot. He is back in his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet this weekend after missing four races with vertigo symptoms, giving Hendrick a full lineup again at a place where the team will want to turn one win into a stronger stretch.
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Bristol has been kind to Larson in recent years, and the weekend opens with Hendrick in a better place than it was before Elliott’s win at Martinsville. The starting grid does not settle anything at a track as unforgiving as Bristol, but it does show where the team stands before the green flag: Larson up front, Elliott mired in the middle and Bowman back in the car after a forced absence. William Byron’s 34th-place start adds another climb for the group on Sunday.
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What happens next is simple enough. The NASCAR Cup Series takes the green at Bristol Motor Speedway, and Hendrick Motorsports will try to turn one fast lap and one overdue win into something sturdier than a two-week burst.
