Kyle Larson hopes to defend his AdventHealth 400 victory at Kansas Speedway after winning the pole position on Saturday, May 10, 2025. (Photo: Sydney Redden | The Podium Finish)
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A year ago, Kyle Larson beat Chris Buescher to the stripe at Kansas Speedway in the closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history. That photo finish win was one of six victories for Larson before narrowly missing out on a Championship 4 spot.
Déjà vu struck at Kansas Speedway for Larson on Saturday afternoon. After posting the ninth fastest time and fastest 10-lap consecutive average run in practice, the 32-year-old native of Elk Grove, California, edged out Buescher for the pole position for Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 by 0.057 seconds.
The thought of the same two principals from last year’s exciting outcome starting on the front row is not lost upon the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion.
“It’s definitely ironic and really cool,” Larson said. “I think it adds to the storyline of what happened last year. You’ll probably build some anticipation for the race tomorrow. But yeah, I won’t be thinking about it, I guess, when we’re rolling around under caution. But yeah, it’s just ironic, funny and cool all at the same time.”
Racing often produces magical moments, like Sunday’s front row evoking memories of last year’s thriller. It took focus and discipline for Larson to score his first Busch Light Pole Award of the 2025 season with that smooth lap of 29.391 seconds/183.730 mph.
Kyle Larson put the spurs to his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet to win the pole for Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway. (Photo: Sydney Redden | The Podium Finish)
“Yeah, the qualifying lap felt really good,” Larson recalled. “You’re watching SMT and you can see the drivers are starting to hold it easy wide open in (Turns) 1 and 2. In 3 and 4, some guys were getting tight and (Chris) Buescher was able to run a good three and four. I kind of had a plan on the line that I wanted to run and just try to match it with the throttle.
“Thankfully, everything went great. My balance felt really good. I felt like I hit my marks and came up to speed through 3 and 4 good. It was a perfect feeling lap.”
Aside from a few blemishes at Daytona, Circuit of the Americas and Darlington, this season has been sensational for Larson. Heading into Sunday’s 267-lap race, he has victories at Homestead-Miami and Bristol, seven top fives and eight top 10s in the season’s first 11 races — good enough for second in the points standings.
Now, Larson is eyeing his third win of the season at a venue that has consistently suited his style. Fittingly, he draws confidence not just from his driving prowess, but from a familiar trait shared by his earlier triumphs this year.
“Yeah, I enjoy Kansas a lot. It’s probably my third favorite track behind Homestead and Bristol,” Larson shared. “I just think what makes any track good is progressive banking, and this place has that.
“You look at Homestead, it has it. Bristol fans hate it, but it’s got progressive banking. I feel like when you have progressive banking, it just allows more options, I think. So yeah, I think that’s why it helps the racing here because you can catch somebody and move to a different lane; get inside of them, work them over and pass them. Where you go to other tracks and do all this work to get to them, and they’re still running the same line that you have to run, and you can’t pass. So yeah, I think the progressive banking helps out a lot of these tracks.”
Kyle Larson hopes to score his third win of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season in Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway. (Photo: Sydney Redden | The Podium Finish)
It takes commitment and bravery to excel at Kansas despite its inviting progressive banked corners. That commitment and bravery will be essential for Larson on Sunday as drivers typically find their cars feeling edgy or on the verge of breaking loose coming off the exits of Turns 2 and 4.
With a busy month of racing action between the NASCAR duties and qualifying for the 109th Indianapolis 500, Larson understands what it takes to win at Kansas so he can put his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet team in position to score another victory and critical Playoff points.
“Yeah, I think for Kansas, and every track really, you kind of just want to have that short run speed,” he observed. “So you want to be up there on the charts a little bit, but also kind of have good long run speed and a good balance throughout the run.
“This place can get kind of tricky off of Turn 2 or off of Turn 4, so you hope that your car is kind of finishing the corner well at those ends so you can do a good job of staying wound up with your speed. I feel like some drivers can run the middle of [Turns] 3 and 4 pretty well, so hopefully my car will operate off of the top lane decently. So yeah, I think we’ll be in a good spot. It’s just trying to get a little bit better every time.”
