William Byron becomes the betting favorite for pole at a NASCAR Cup Series street circuit after clinching another at the Circuit of The Americas.
Byron secured top spot for Sunday’s race with a lap of 93.882 mph (2:10.76s). While it’s his first pole at COTA, it’s Byron’s fourth pole on the road circuit. And he is the first driver in the Cup Series to take pole at four different street circuits (Charlotte 2019; Road America 2021; Indianapolis 2021).
“It was a weekend of ups and downs; The cup car, we definitely had some work done yesterday on the overall balance and grip in some areas and then on me as a driver,” said Byron. “Speaking overnight (to the team) we felt like there’s maybe three tenths on my side and on the side of the car. We were able to close this gap somewhat today and put the two together.
“It’s good to get pole, but what counts is tomorrow. There is much to do. There is still a lot of physical work to be done during today’s race (Xfinity Series) and then tomorrow will be tough. I’m looking forward to it and I hope that we can prepare thoroughly today and be able to go into tomorrow.”
Byron is joined on the front row by Tyler Reddick. Reddick, who was fastest in practice and fastest in qualifying from the second group of drivers, drove a lap at 150.783 km/h on the final lap.
Austin Cindric qualified third at 93.459 mph with Jordan Taylor fourth at 93.174 mph. IMSA veteran Taylor makes his NASCAR Cup Series debut driving the #9 for Hendrick Motorsports in place of the injured Chase Elliott.
Daniel Suarez qualified fifth at 93.067 mph ahead of Alex Bowman in sixth at 93.911 mph and AJ Allmendinger in seventh at 92.840 mph.
Erik Jones qualified eighth at 92.838mph, Kyle Busch ninth at 92.678mph and Noah Gragson 10th at 92.188. It is the first time both Legacy Motor Club drivers have made the final qualifying lap in the same session. Defending champion Ross Chastain qualified 12th, his fastest lap was 93.310 mph.
Kimi Raikkonen qualified 22nd and Jenson Button 24th. Jimmie Johnson qualified 31st.
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