Kyle Larson to start P12 in the Xfinity Series race at Darlington

Kyle Larson will be doing double duty this weekend as NASCAR returns to Darlington Raceway. Larson will pilot the #17 Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports in the Diamond Hill Plywood 200 Xfinity race this weekend.

During NASCAR's first visit to Darlington earlier in the season, Larson won the Xfinity race driving the #10 Chevy for Kauling Racing.

In his second Xfinity start on the track this weekend, he posted a lap of 163.310 mph which secured him a 12th-place starting position for the race in the afternoon.

John Hunter Nemechek put in a lap of 164.998 mph and will lead the field to the green flag, sharing the front row with NASCAR Cup Series ace Denny Hamlin (164.948 mph). The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is set to make his lone Xfinity start of the 2023 season this weekend driving the #19 JGR Toyota.

Justin Allgaier and Cole Custer occupy the second row with Sam Mayer rounding off the top five qualifiers.

Other Notable entries, which include Kyle Busch, will start behind Kyle Larson as his time was quick enough for the seventh row (P14) only. Busch will be driving the #10 Chevy for Kaulig Racing, which Larson took the victory lane earlier in the season. Trackhouse Racing driver Ross Chastain lines up on the 11th row.

The Cup Series drivers will get some extra laps under their belt as they prepare for the playoff opener on Sunday. The green flag for the Xfinity race is set to drop at 3:49 p.m. ET. Catch the drivers live in action on NBC and USA Network.

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Kyle Larson hoping not to repeat his 2022 playoff blunders

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion had a terrible run in the playoffs last season as he couldn't advance into the Round of 8 after a disastrous outing at the Charlotte Roval.

Kyle Larson in the NASCAR Cup Series Media Day

Having made the playoffs with two victories this season, Larson aims for a better run over the next weeks as he aims to clinch his second title.

“Last year felt quite sh*tty because I screwed up at the Roval and took myself out of it.” Kyle Larson said in the media day.“That wasn’t fun to deal with. But at the end of the year, I mean still had three wins. That’s not a bad year. This year we got three wins as well and won an All-Star race,” he said.

“If I don’t win a championship, for sure I’m gonna be disappointed. We didn’t achieve the goal, but wasn’t a disappointment from start to finish. We won more than a lot of people did. Already at this point, we have ten races left. I’m a glass-half-full guy most of the time so I try to set realistic expectations as well,” Larson added.

Kyle Larson begins his quest for his second title in the Southern 500 at Darlington on Sunday.