William Byron waits on the grid during a weather delay of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on July 9, 2023. Photo: Chris Graythen/Getty Images
William Byron earned his series best fourth pole position of the year Saturday at Pocono Raceway and will lead the NASCAR Cup Series field to green in Sunday’s race.
Byron’s time of 57.746 (170.235 mph) was .122-second quicker than his championship rival Martin Truex, Jr. in qualifying at the unique three-turn, 2.5-mile Pocono track and places the current two title leaders alongside one another for the race start.
Truex has two previous wins at Pocono while Byron is still racing for his first.
“Big thanks to all the guys back at the shop for working hard and getting our cars close, I’m proud of this one,’’ said Byron, who leads the series with four wins and is currently 17 points behind Truex for the regular season championship.
“Definitely tomorrow’s a long day so re-hydrate and re-group. I’ve had a long week of racing so hopefully tomorrow is a good result for us. It would be nice to get a win.’’
Tyler Reddick set the pace all day – fastest overall in practice and first round qualifying – but he will start seventh on the grid. His teammate Bubba Wallace was quickest in Group A qualifying, but brushed the wall during his final round qualifying lap and will start 10th.
Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick will start on the second row, followed by Christopher Bell and Joey Logano.
Reddick will line up alongside his team co-owner, Denny Hamlin on row four. Austin Cindric and Wallace comprise row five, rounding out the top 10 qualifiers.
Dawsonville, Georgia’s Chase Elliott spun out while making a qualifying run and will start in the rear of the field.
Hamlin is tied with NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon for most wins (six) in Pocono history. There has not been a repeat winner in the last six Pocono races.
NASCAR Cup Series
Pocono Raceway – Long Pond, PA
HighPoint.com 400 – July 22, 2023
Saturday’s Qualifying Results
1. William Byron
2. Martin Truex, Jr.
3. Kyle Larson
4. Kevin Harvick
5. Christopher Bell
6. Joey Logano
7. Tyler Reddick
8. Denny Hamlin
9. Austin Cindric
10. Bubba Wallace
11. Ty Gibbs
12. Corey LaJoie
13. Brad Keselowski
14. Ryan Blaney
15. Michael McDowell
16. A.J. Allmendinger
17. Daniel Suarez
18. Chris Buescher
19. Justin Haley
20. Alex Bowman
21. Ross Chastain
22. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
23. Austin Dillon
24. Erik Jones
25. Kyle Busch
26. Harrison Burton
27. Aric Almirola
28. J.J. Yeley
29. Chase Briscoe
30. B.J. McLeod
31. Cole Custer
32. Noah Gragson
33. Ty Dillon
34. Ryan Preece
35. Chase Elliott
36. Todd Gilliland
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