Kyle Larson had earned the Busch Pole Award for Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race at Richmond Raceway but will now have to come all the way from the rear. The Regular Season Champion’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet failed pre-race inspection twice and will be forced to the rear during pace laps.
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Larson, who won the fall 2017 race at the .75-mile Virginia short track, was originally slated to start first alongside last week’s winner, Denny Hamlin. The Cook Out Southern 500 winner and driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota will now lead the field to the green flag with Martin Truex Jr., in the No. 19 JGR Toyota, also on the front row.
The No. 5 driver enters tonight‘s second race in the Round of 16 of the NASCAR Playoffs in second place in the standings, 80 points above the elimination line.
The No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Cole Custer also failed pre-race inspection twice and will start at the rear as well.
Coverage for Saturday’s race gets underway at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.