Weather Cancels Bristol Qualifying, Larson Gets Pole

Kyle Larson will start on the pole for Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway after lightning and rain canceled Friday’s practice and qualifying sessions. The starting grid was set by NASCAR’s performance-based formula, placing Joey Logano second, points leader Denny Hamlin third, William Byron fourth and Carson Hocevar fifth. Larson is nine points behind Hamlin in the Chase standings and enters the race with momentum after winning last weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway. Several title contenders face difficult starting positions, including Chase Briscoe in 26th, Chase Elliott in 27th, Daniel Suárez in 28th and Ryan Blaney in 29th, while Christopher Bell starts 12th.