Photo Credit: Getty Images
SONOMA, Calif. — Kyle Larson is going back to the beginning to get a handle on Sonoma Raceway.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie earned the Coors Light Pole Award Saturday for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race. The Carneros 200, which will be run Saturday afternoon, is part of the NASCAR Sprint Cup weekend at the northern California road course. Larson is making his first trek to Sonoma.
Larson covered the 10-turn, 1.99-mile track in 1 minute, 17.203 seconds for an average speed of 92.794. It was his second career pole in the series. He won his first in the K&N Pro East at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, during his championship season in 2012.
Fellow Sprint Cup driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who was fastest in Friday’s practice, qualified second at 1:17.527 (92.407).
K&N Pro West points leader Greg Pursley led series regulars with a third-place qualifying effort of 1:17.859 (92.012), followed by NASCAR Next drivers Dylan Lupton, Cole Custer and Brandon McReynolds.
Jim Inglebright, Austin Dillon, David Mayhew and rookie James Bickford rounded out the top 10.
The Carneros 200 is scheduled to take the green flag at 12:30 p.m. PT.
| Pos | No. | Name | Sponsor | Best Tm | Best Speed | In Lap | Laps | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Clorox | 1:17.203 | 92.794 | 2 | 2 | |
| 2 | 99 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Roush Performance Parts | 1:17.527 | 92.407 | 2 | 2 | 0.324 |
| 3 | 26 | Greg Pursley | GPM/Star Nursery/Real Water | 1:17.859 | 92.012 | 1 | 2 | 0.656 |
| 4 | 9 | Dylan Lupton | Sunrise Ford/Lucas Oil/Eibach | 1:18.023 | 91.819 | 2 | 2 | 0.820 |
| 5 | 00 | Cole Custer | NAPA Filters | 1:18.023 | 91.819 | 1 | 2 | 0.820 |
| 6 | 16 | Brandon McReynolds | NAPA Auto Parts | 1:18.229 | 91.577 | 1 | 1 | 1.026 |
| 7 | 1 | Jim Inglebright | Federated Auto Parts | 1:18.822 | 90.888 | 3 | 3 | 1.619 |
| 8 | 21 | Austin Dillon | Golden Gate Meat/ RCR | 1:18.944 | 90.748 | 2 | 2 | 1.741 |
| 9 | 17 | David Mayhew | Steak & Grape/MMI Services | 1:18.968 | 90.720 | 2 | 2 | 1.765 |
| 10 | 6 | James Bickford * | Sunrise Ford/Lucas Oil/Eibach | 1:18.996 | 90.688 | 2 | 3 | 1.793 |
| 11 | 5 | Thomas Martin | MedActive Oral Relief/Racers Drive | 1:19.088 | 90.583 | 2 | 2 | 1.885 |
| 12 | 54 | Anthony Giannone | MGP Connecting Rods/Redline Signs | 1:19.153 | 90.508 | 1 | 2 | 1.950 |
| 13 | 83 | Justin Allgaier | Grigg Brothers/Brandt | 1:19.166 | 90.493 | 2 | 2 | 1.963 |
| 14 | 41 | Matt Tifft | Federated Auto Parts | 1:19.193 | 90.463 | 2 | 2 | 1.990 |
| 15 | 13 | Todd Souza | Central Coast Cabinets | 1:19.611 | 89.988 | 4 | 4 | 2.408 |
| 16 | 36 | Dave Smith | Cooks Collision | 1:20.044 | 89.501 | 2 | 5 | 2.841 |
| 17 | 11 | Michael Shawhan * | Racers Drive/BTM Motorwerks | 1:20.159 | 89.372 | 2 | 2 | 2.956 |
| 18 | 86 | Tim Spurgeon | Kleen Blast/Davids Racing Products | 1:20.289 | 89.228 | 2 | 4 | 3.086 |
| 19 | 8 | John Borneman III | Twisted X Boots | 1:20.649 | 88.829 | 1 | 2 | 3.446 |
| 20 | 18 | Bill Kann * | Interstate Batteries | 1:21.229 | 88.195 | 2 | 5 | 4.026 |
| 21 | 25 | Tom Klauer | Pick-n-Pull | 1:21.789 | 87.591 | 6 | 6 | 4.586 |
| 22 | 47 | Scott Ivie | MSI Development | 1:22.186 | 87.168 | 2 | 3 | 4.983 |
| 23 | 2 | Brady Flaherty | WestWorld Computers Ltd | 1:22.392 | 86.950 | 4 | 5 | 5.189 |
| 24 | 51 | Carlos Vieira | 51 FIFTY Energy Drink | 1:24.591 | 84.690 | 6 | 6 | 7.388 |
| 25 | 30 | John Wood | Hollerans Performance | 1:24.710 | 84.571 | 3 | 4 | 7.507 |
| 26 | 15 | Jack Sellers | MedActive Oral Care | 1:25.053 | 84.230 | 2 | 2 | 7.850 |
| 27 | 84 | Rich DeLong III * | Country Girl Saloon/Ron’s Rear Ends | 1:33.214 | 76.855 | 2 | 2 | 16.011 |
| 28 | 14 | Anthony Garbarino | Scopus Racing America | 1:40.367 | 71.378 | 1 | 1 | 23.164 |
| 29 | 31 | Michael Annett | TMC/Pilot | – | 0 | |||
| 30 | 38 | Zack Huffman | – | 0 |
