A week after claiming a NASCAR Cup Series-leading eighth win of the season and second-straight victory to secure his advancement to the championship round of the 2021 playoffs, Kyle Larson starts on the pole Sunday at Kansas Speedway for the Hollywood Casino 400, the second race of the three-race round of eight.
“My mind is on Kansas. I want to go there and win,” Larson said. “I have led a lot of laps there and come close to a couple of different wins. I want to go there and lead a bunch of laps and try and get another win and, then, look forward to Martinsville. I don’t want to change up what we have been doing, still take it week by week and do a great job every weekend and carry some momentum into Phoenix. I think it would be bad if we went to Kansas and Martinsville and had a couple of DNFs because we are ‘relaxed.’ Hopefully, we can go through these next couple of weeks, have a few good runs and head into Phoenix with some good momentum.”
Ryan Blaney starts alongside Larson on the front row.
The eight remaining playoff drivers start in the top-eight positions at Kansas. Blaney’s Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski starts third, sharing row two on Sunday’s starting grid with Kyle Busch, who won at Kansas Speedway earlier this season.
One of Larson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammates, reigning champion Chase Elliott starts fifth, in the third row alongside one of Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Denny Hamlin. Hamlin is a three-time Kansas winner, including two of the last four races there.
“We found a set-up that really works well there for me,” Hamlin said. “I’m not really sure what has clicked, but the last four races have been really good for us. I really like that race track. It’s smooth; it’s wide; you can really work the lanes when you need to. It’s a fun race track and one that we’ve got circled that we could possibly win and punch our ticket.”
Hamlin is one of two three-time Kansas Speedway winners among the remaining playoff drivers. The other is Joey Logano. Logano, a third Penske driver, is the defending Hollywood Casino 400 winner. He starts Sunday’s race from the eighth position.
A third Gibbs teammate and remaining playoff driver, Martin Truex Jr., starts in the seventh position.
Rounding out the top-10 of the Kansas starting grid are William Byron and Christopher Bell, two drivers already eliminated from championship contention.
“I think that, for us, over the course of this year, there has been a lot of good aspects and then there have been some aspects that have been disappointing,” Byron said. “But I think all the key ingredients that it takes to win races is there, and it’s been there. We won the third race of the year. So, yeah, we’re very capable. It’s just about us putting together all the details to be successful. I think we’ve had a shot to win multiple races this year at different times. I think we’ve got all the good properties of a race team that it takes to win races, and Texas was a good example of that. Hopefully, we have another shot to win this weekend.”
