Kyle Larson earns JRM’s first O’Reilly Series pole at Darlington

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Kyle Larson fills in for Alex Bowman and earns JR Motorsports their first NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series pole at Darlington.

This is his 9th career O’Reilly Series pole and has a clear windshield for the race tonight.

Larson kept his No. 88 steady and barely beat his fellow Cup Series regular Christopher Bell (30.041), who joins him on the front row in second.

Row two includes two other JRM cars. Carson Kvapil starts third (30.180) while Justin Allgaier starts in fourth (30.220).

Parker Retzlaff (30.299) earns his best start-to-date with his new team. He transferred his speed from the lone practice session to qualifying and starts fifth.

Sam Mayer, William Sawalich, Brandon Jones, Ross Chastain, and Jesse Love round out the top ten qualifiers.

There was 39 cars entered for 38 starting spots for the event. Matt DiBenedetto, who tried making his first start in the series for Joey Gase Motorsports, was the lone entrant who failed to qualify in.

The highest starting driver with a throwback paint scheme will be Brennan Poole in 23rd. He’s paying ohmage to Greg Biffle’s 2005 Cup Series scheme.

Below is the full starting lineup for the Sports Clips Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway.

Starting Lineup

1. Kyle Larson(i): 29.994
2. Christopher Bell(i): 30.041
3. Carson Kvapil: 30.180
4. Justin Allgaier: 30.220
5. Parker Retzlaff: 30.299
6. Sam Mayer: 30.307
7. William Sawalich: 30.338
8. Brandon Jones: 30.355
9. Ross Chastain(i): 30.400
10. Jesse Love: 30.411
11. Austin Hill: 30.436
12. Corey Day: 30.447
13. Sheldon Creed: 30.467
14. Harrison Burton: 30.481
15. Taylor Gray: 30.507
16. Kyle Sieg: 30.513
17. Josh Williams: 30.621
18. Sammy Smith: 30.644
19. Rajah Caruth: 30.683
20. JJ Yeley: 30.707
21. Anthony Alfredo: 30.736
22. Ryan Sieg: 30.761
23. Brennan Poole: 30.766
24. Garrett Smithley: 30.809
25. Jeb Burton: 30.841
26. Blaine Perkins: 30.873
27. Nick Sanchez: 30.874
28. Patrick Staropoli: 30.910
29. Lavar Scott: 30.924
30. Jeremy Clements: 30.955
31. Austin Green: 30.966
32. Josh Bilicki: 31.008
33. Dean Thompson: 31.140
34. Alex Labbe: 31.225
35. Myatt Snider: 31.254
36. Ryan Ellis: 31.297
37. Joey Gase: 31.507
38. Nathan Byrd: No Time

DNQ: Matt DiBenedetto: 31.063