William Byron wins Coca-Cola 600 pole
William Byron is starting first for the second time in 2019.
Byron posted the fastest qualifying lap in Thursday’s qualifying session for the Coca-Cola 600 and got the pole for Sunday night’s race. He’s joined on the front row by Aric Almirola, who is one of six Ford drivers in the top 10.
Kyle Busch is the only Toyota driver in the top 10. He’ll start third and he’s followed by Austin Dillon. Kevin Harvick rounds out the top five.
Byron started first for the Daytona 500 and led 44 laps before he was involved in a crash and finished 21st. The second-year driver is looking for the first Cup Series win of his career after moving through the Truck Series and Xfinity Series in two seasons before joining the Cup Series in 2018.
He’s made improvements with new crew chief Chad Knaus in 2019. After finishing 23rd in the points standings as a rookie, Byron is currently 19th in the standings and has two top-10 finishes in the first 12 races of the season.
The Coca-Cola 600, the longest race in NASCAR, goes green just after 6 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Starting lineup
1. William Byron
2. Aric Almirola
3. Kyle Busch
4. Austin Dillon
5. Kevin Harvick
6. Daniel Suarez
7. Joey Logano
8. Clint Bowyer
9. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
10. Daniel Hemric
11. Kurt Busch
12. Chase Elliott
13. Alex Bowman
14. Martin Truex Jr.
15. Jimmie Johnson
16. Erik Jones
17. Paul Menard
18. Ryan Newman
19. Ryan Blaney
20. Denny Hamlin
21. Brad Keselowski
22. Chris Buescher
23. Michael McDowell
24. Ryan Preece
25. Kyle Larson
26. Matt Tifft
27. Matt DiBenedetto
28. Ty Dillon
29. Bubba Wallace
30. Corey LaJoie
31. David Ragan
32. Landon Cassill
33. Bayley Currey
34. Parker Kligerman
35. Ross Chastain
36. BJ McLeod
37. Reed Sorenson
38. Cody Ware
39. Quin Houff
40. Joey Gase
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
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