Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Nascar Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, will start at the rear of the field for the 2022 Nascar Cup race at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, March 13th.
According to a Twitter post by Larson’s Hendrick No. 5 team, Larson’s team made “unapproved adjustments to address a steering issue” after posting the seventh-fastest time in qualifying. Because of this unapproved adjustment, Larson will be forced to take the green flag at the tail end of the field.
Due to unapproved adjustments to address steering issue, @KyleLarsonRacin will start at the rear of the field on Sunday.
— No. 5 Team (@Hendrick5Team) March 12, 2022
Despite this setback, Larson is largely considered the favorite to win at Phoenix Raceway. After all, the last time Nascar visited the track in November 2021, he claimed not only the race victory, but left as Cup Series Champion. Just a few weeks ago, Larson started his No. 5 Camaro at the rear of the field after changing his ignition post-qualifying and ended up at the front to take the win at Fontana.
Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Ford Mustang, posted the fastest qualifying time and will start from the pole. Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 Toyota TRD Camry will start second, and third place will be the No. 24 Camaro of William Byron.
Martin Truex Jr., who drives the No. 19 Toyota TRD Camry, won last year’s spring race at Phoenix. He will start 20th on Sunday.
Nine teams suffered penalties due to failing pre-qualifying inspection multiple times, and have each had crew members ejected. This list includes the No. 8 Camaro ZL1 of Tyler Reddick, the No. 15 Ford Mustang of Garrett Smithley, the No. 18 Toyota TRD Camry of Kyle Busch, the No. 20 Toyota TRD Camry of Christopher Bell, the No. 38 Ford Mustang of Todd Gilliland, the No. 41 Ford Mustang of Cole Custer, the No. 42 Camaro ZL1 of Ty Dillon, the No. 43 Camaro ZL1 of Erik Jones and the No. 77 Camaro ZL1 of Landon Cassill. Nascar did not reveal specifics regarding the infractions.
| Pos | Car Number | Driver | Team | Time | Speed | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Menards/Maytag Ford | 27.127 | 132.709 | Ford Mustang |
| 2 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Office Toyota | 27.2 | 132.353 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 3 | 24 | William Byron | Axalta Chevrolet | 27.216 | 132.275 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 4 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Rheem – Capitol Container Toyota | 27.217 | 132.27 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 5 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 27.276 | 131.984 | Ford Mustang |
| 6 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Tractors Ford | 27.284 | 131.945 | Ford Mustang |
| 7 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Valvoline Chevrolet | 27.285 | 131.941 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 8 | 2 | Austin Cindric # | Autotrader Ford | 27.299 | 131.873 | Ford Mustang |
| 9 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally/Best Friends Chevrolet | 27.32 | 131.772 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 10 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 27.709 | 129.922 | Ford Mustang |
| 11 | 18 | Kyle Busch | DeWalt Toyota | 27.254 | 132.091 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 12 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Guaranteed Rate Chevrolet | 27.323 | 131.757 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 13 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Get Bioethanol Chevrolet | 27.36 | 131.579 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 14 | 43 | Erik Jones | FOCUSfactor Chevrolet | 27.466 | 131.071 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 15 | 45 | Kurt Busch | MoneyLion Toyota | 27.505 | 130.885 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 16 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford | 27.519 | 130.819 | Ford Mustang |
| 17 | 1 | Ross Chastain | K1 Speed Chevrolet | 27.539 | 130.724 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 18 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Violet Defense Ford | 27.544 | 130.7 | Ford Mustang |
| 19 | 9 | Chase Elliott | UniFirst Chevrolet | 27.586 | 130.501 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 20 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 27.602 | 130.425 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 21 | 42 | Ty Dillon | Black Rifle Coffee Company Chevrolet | 27.623 | 130.326 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 22 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Love's Travel Stops Ford | 27.663 | 130.138 | Ford Mustang |
| 23 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | CommScope Chevrolet | 27.669 | 130.11 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 24 | 21 | Harrison Burton # | DEX Imaging Ford | 27.673 | 130.091 | Ford Mustang |
| 25 | 41 | Cole Custer | HaasTooling.com Ford | 27.691 | 130.006 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 17 | Chris Buescher | ITsavvy Ford | 27.714 | 129.898 | Ford Mustang |
| 27 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | ROOT Insurance Toyota | 27.738 | 129.786 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 28 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 27.765 | 129.66 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 29 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger(i) | Action Industries Chevrolet | 27.806 | 129.468 | #N/A |
| 30 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Built.com Chevrolet | 28.046 | 128.361 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 31 | 77 | Landon Cassill(i) | Voyager: Crypto for All Chevrolet | 28.285 | 127.276 | #N/A |
| 32 | 51 | Cody Ware | Nurtec ODT Ford | 28.288 | 127.262 | Ford Mustang |
| 33 | 38 | Todd Gilliland # | Frontline Enterprises Inc. Ford | 28.299 | 127.213 | Ford Mustang |
| 34 | 78 | BJ McLeod | Premier Business Investments Ford | 28.451 | 126.533 | Ford Mustang |
| 35 | 15 | Garrett Smithley | Jacob Companies Ford | 29.193 | 123.317 | Ford Mustang |
| 36 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Fry's/NOS Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
- # – Rookie
- i – Points ineligible
- * – Part-time driver
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Comments
I thought Larson was driving a Valvoline sponsored car in Phoenix?
He is but the person doing this has no idea about racing. But what’s off the wire. False rumors again.