Larson Defeats Bell to Take O'Reilly Series Pole At Darlington

Darlington, S.C. -- Kyle Larson was the final driver in the qualifying order in Saturday's qualifying session for the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway, and as expected, the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion had the speed needed to secure the pole position.

Larson, driving the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet in place of Alex Bowman, who continues to recover from a vertigo diagnosis, turned a lap time of 29.994 seconds (163.953 mph) to top Christopher Bell, a fellow NASCAR Cup Series star, for the top qualifying time.

Carson Kvapil was able to secure the best qualifying position among non-NASCAR Cup Series drivers, as he'll roll from the third starting spot behind the wheel of the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

Justin Allgaier, who will substitute for Alex Bowman in Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series event, will start from the fourth position, and Parker Retzlaff will start from the fifth position.

Sam Mayer, William Sawalich, Brandon Jones, Ross Chastain, and Jesse Love rounded out the top-10 fastest drivers in Saturday's qualifying session.

Official Sport Clips VFW Help a Hero 200 Starting Lineup

1. 88-Kyle Larson
2. 19-Christopher Bell
3. 1-Carson Kvapil
4. 7-Justin Allgaier
5. 99-Parker Retzlaff
6. 41-Sam Mayer
7. 18-William Sawalich
8. 20-Brandon Jones
9. 9-Ross Chastain
10. 2-Jesse Love
11. 21-Austin Hill
12. 17-Corey Day
13. 00-Sheldon Creed
14. 24-Harrison Burton
15. 54-Taylor Gray
16. 28-Kyle Sieg
17. 92-Josh Williams
18. 8-Sammy Smith
19. 32-Rajah Caruth
20. 5-JJ Yeley
21. 96-Anthony Alfredo
22. 39-Ryan Sieg
23. 44-Brennan Poole
24. 0-Garrett Smithley
25. 27-Jeb Burton
26. 31-Blaine Perkins
27. 25-Nick Sanchez
28. 48-Patrick Staropoli
29. 45-Lavar Scott
30. 51-Jeremy Clements
31. 87-Austin Green
32. 07-Josh Bilicki
33. 26-Dean Thompson
34. 91-Alex Labbe
35. 30-Myatt Snider
36. 02-Ryan Ellis
37. 55-Joey Gase
38. 42-Nathan Byrd
DNQ 35-Matt DiBenedetto