Kyle Larson Leads All Hendrick Motorsports Front Row for Coke Zero Sugar 400

Published 08/26/2021, 1:50 AM EDT

This weekend is the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at the Daytona International Speedway, the final regular-season race before the madness of the playoffs begins in earnest. For now, this is the final chance for several drivers to book their berths in the playoffs. This weekend, championship leader Kyle Larson will start on pole position.

Alongside him will be William Byron, who will make it a Hendrick Motorsports front-row lockout. Larson’s championship rival, Denny Hamlin and his teammate Kyle Busch will line up on the second row. Chase Elliott will complete the Top 5, with Michigan winner Ryan Blaney in sixth place.

It’s a Hendrick front row of Larson and Byron at Daytona. Lineup for Saturday: pic.twitter.com/azR8Ni6ERJ
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) August 25, 2021

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Martin Truex Jr will start in seventh place with Kurt Busch next to him in Chip Ganassi Racing’s final race at Daytona. Matt DiBenedetto and Brad Keselowski will round out the Top 10, with DiBenedetto racing for his career. Even though the latter has his future secured, he will want to bow out of Penske on a high note.

How does everyone else line up behind Kyle Larson?

Kevin Harvick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr just missed out on Top 10 starting slots. Behind them will be Chris Buescher and Christopher Bell. Meanwhile, a disappointed Alex Bowman will start 15th, ahead of Chase Briscoe. Tyler Reddick will start in 17th place, ahead of Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell, who will want to repeat his feat.

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Finally, Aric Almirola and Bubba Wallace will round out the Top 20.

Erik Jones and a disappointed Joey Logano will start in 21st and 22nd. Behind them will be the two Ryans, Newman and Preece, respectively. Cole Custer, Daniel Suarez, Austin Dillon, Justin Haley, Ross Chastain, and BJ McLeod will complete the Top 30. Row 16 consists of Cody Ware and Anthony Alfredo, with a returning Corey LaJoie and Garrett Smithley behind them.

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Bringing up the rear are Quin Houff, Josh Bilicki, Joey Gase, Kaz Grala, Landon Cassill and David Starr. Without a doubt, Kyle Larson will be under a bit of pressure to win the regular-season championship before the Playoffs.

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.