JOLIET, Ill. - Paul Menard will start in the pole position for Sunday's NASCAR race at Chicagoland Speedway.
It's the second career Cup Series pole for Menard, who has just one top-five finish this season. He also qualified first for a race at Daytona International Speedway almost exactly 10 years ago.
"Ten years, it goes by quick. I feel old now," the 37-year-old Wisconsin native said with a wry grin.
Menard turned a lap at 180.012 mph in the Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford during qualifying Saturday evening. His only win came seven years ago in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Ryan Blaney will join Menard on the front row of the starting grid after turning a lap at 179.880 mph in the Team Penske No. 12 Ford. Blaney drove Menard's car with Wood Brothers Racing the past two seasons.
"We'll see," Blaney said about his car's potential for Sunday. "It's always up in the air. It's always good to have raw speed in the car like that for qualifying, and you just hope it carries over."
Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin and Kurt Busch rounded out the top five.
Martin Truex Jr., the 2017 series champion, will start 12th. Truex has won the past two Cup Series races at Chicagoland and won last Sunday's road-course event at Sonoma Raceway in California, his second victory in three races and his third overall this season.
Larson lines up win
Once Kyle Larson got to the top of the track, it was all over.
Larson used the high line to pass Kevin Harvick and drive away to a dominant victory in Saturday afternoon's Xfinity Series race at Chicagoland.
"You can look at any track where you can run inches off the wall, and I'll be faster than anybody," he said. "Once the lap times dropped off enough around the bottom, I could move up there and go really fast."
Riding as high as he could go on the bumpy 1.5-mile oval, Larson passed Harvick with about 60 laps remaining in the 200-lap race. Brandon Jones moved into the top spot when he stayed on the track while the leaders went in for a pit stop, but the caution he needed never materialized and Larson pulled away when Jones finally went into pit road.
Larson also won the pole position, but the Cup Series regular was sent to the back of the field because of an unapproved tire change after qualifying. It was his second win in three starts on the Xfinity Series this season. He also won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March.
Harvick - another Cup Series regular - finished second, and Cole Custer was third after also starting at the back of the field due to a tire problem. It was the fifth consecutive top-five finish for Custer, who moved into the lead in the series standings by three points over Daniel Hemric.
"We probably were the best car out there. I think Kyle Larson's probably just the best driver at Chicago," Custer said. "It was a little bit hard to catch him once he started running at the top."
Daniel Suarez and Daniel Hemric rounded out the top five. Elliott Sadler was sixth and dropped into third in the series after beginning the weekend on top of the standings.
The temperature was in the 90s for most of the day, and it soared well into triple digits inside the cars. Ice bags were almost as popular as new tires at each pit stop. Harvick asked his crew for a smaller, sandwich-sized bag when he was unable to fit a large bag in his suit, and he splashed cold water on his face at one point.
"Water, ice and a towel down here at the start-finish line," Larson requested after his 10th career Xfinity Series victory.
Fueled for big victory
Brett Moffitt won the Camping World Truck Series race late Friday night at Chicagoland after leader John Hunter Nemechek ran out of gas on the final lap.
Moffitt won for the third time this season and fourth time overall - and did it in a race he wasn't scheduled to run until Fr8Auctions.com made a midweek commitment to sponsor the Hattori Racing No. 16 Toyota.
"We didn't know if we were coming," Moffitt said. "To be here in victory lane, it's an honor and a blessing."
Moffitt also won in February at Atlanta Motor Speedway and two weeks ago at his home track, Iowa Speedway.
Nemechek ended up seventh after leading 64 laps, including most of the final stage, before his car slowed on the first turn on the last of the 150 laps.
"We just don't have luck on our side right now," said Nemechek, who is running a limited schedule in both the Xfinity and Camping World Truck series. "Overall, it's a good showing. They knew we were here. We don't know at what point we'll be back with the trucks. It's frustrating and disappointing, but we'll move on from it."
Ben Rhodes was second for his fourth top-five finish of the season, points leader Johnny Sauter was third and pole-sitter Noah Gragson was fourth. He was followed by Brandon Jones and Justin Haley, the winner the previous week at Gateway Motorsports Park outside St. Louis.