Lesley Ann Miller/Motorsport Images
Larson, Gibbs split front row between Chicago's tight walls
Kyle Larson completed the Saturday sweep of NASCAR Cup Series activity by winning the pole for the second edition of the Chicago street race after pacing practice earlier in the afternoon.
Larson went to the top of the board as the final round of qualifying ended, putting up a lap of 90.168mph (87.836s). It's his fifth pole of the season and the 21st of his career.
Ty Gibbs will start second (90.158mph) after being knocked off the pole by the No. 5.
Michael McDowell qualified third (90.141mph), Tyler Reddick, fourth (89.923mph), Shane van Gisbergen, fifth (89.813mph), Bubba Wallace, sixth (89.674mph), Christopher Bell, seventh (89.627mph), Alex Bowman, eighth (89.230mph), Daniel Suarez, ninth (89.115mph) and Brad Keselowski, tenth (75.517mph).
Keselowski spun and hit the wall in Turn 11 on his qualifying lap, but he wasn't the only driver who encountered issues.
Corey LaJoie spun in the same corner, but earlier in the session. LaJoie damaged the left rear of his Chevrolet.
Chris Buescher broke the toe link on the left rear of his Ford Mustang after hitting the wall. Josh Berry also made wall contact and damaged the left rear of his Mustang. Harrison Burton became stuck in the Turn 6 tire barriers after he locked up the brakes and spun into the corner.
William Byron also had a power steering issue, but his Hendrick Motorsports team could not fix it and he’ll have to start at the rear of the field on Sunday.
All the incidents occurred in the first round of qualifying.
Denny Hamlin didn’t advance to the final round and qualified 11th. Ryan Blaney qualified 17th; Chase Elliott, 18th; Kyle Busch, 19th; Martin Truex Jr., 24th; Joey Logano, 32nd and Joey Hand, 38th.
Kelly Crandall
Kelly has been on the NASCAR beat full-time since 2013, and joined RACER as chief NASCAR writer in 2017. Her work has also appeared in NASCAR.com, the NASCAR Illustrated magazine, and NBC Sports. A corporate communications graduate from Central Penn College, Crandall is a two-time George Cunningham Writer of the Year recipient from the National Motorsports Press Association.
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