William Byron Youngest-Ever Coca Cola 600 Pole Winner
William Byron |
Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images |
Growing up in Charlotte, William Byron used to sit in the stands and watch drivers like Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace and Jeff Gordon duke it out for 600 miles around the famous 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway and imagined himself taking to the track himself someday.
On Thursday night, Byron became the youngest driver to win the pole for NASCAR longest race after claiming the pole position for Sunday's 60th running of the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Byron wheeled the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro to the top spot with a fast lap of 183.424 mph to collect just his second-career pole. It's his sixth top-three start of the season and his third in the last three races.
Aric Almirola was second fastest, running 183.069 mph in the No. 10 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing. Kyle Busch was third with a lap of 182.933 mph, followed by 2017 Coca Cola 600 winner Austin Dillon and Kevin Harvick.
For Byron, it's been a season's of firsts for the second-year driver – winning the pole for the season—opening Daytona 500, and now, the youngest pole-winner in race history.
"That's awesome. This is a dream come true," said Byron. "Obviously I grew up in Charlotte and came to this race every year. So, it's a dream come true to qualify on the pole with Hendrick Motorsports just across the street and all the hard work and everybody at Chevrolet giving us fast race cars. This is pretty cool. I can't think of a better way to start the weekend."
It was just 25 years after another second-year Cup Series driver took the No. 24 car to Victory Lane for his first series victory – a driver named Jeff Gordon. On Sunday, Byron will get his shot to lead the field to the green flag for 600 miles, hoping to score his own first-career series victory.
William Byron |
Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images |
"You take it one step at a time,' said Byron on looking for that first win. "There are a lot of things we've got to do right to get to that point. But, I think the speed has been really good and the execution of our race last weekend was nearly flawless from a team's perspective and then from my perspective. So, I think we're getting there, for sure. We're close."
Daniel Suarez, Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Daniel Hemric rounded out the top 10 qualifiers.
RACE LINEUP
Pos | # | Driver | Sponsor/Make | Lap | Speed |
1 | 24 | William Byron | Liberty Patriotic Chevrolet | 29.44 | 183.424 |
2 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 29.497 | 183.069 |
3 | 18 | Kyle Busch | M&M's Red White & Blue Toyota | 29.519 | 182.933 |
4 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Chevrolet | 29.546 | 182.766 |
5 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Mobil 1 Ford | 29.55 | 182.741 |
6 | 41 | Daniel Suarez | Coca-Cola Ford | 29.555 | 182.71 |
7 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 29.56 | 182.679 |
8 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Peak Antifreeze & Coolant Ford | 29.562 | 182.667 |
9 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Fastenal Ford | 29.563 | 182.661 |
10 | 8 | Daniel Hemric # | Cessna Chevrolet | 29.588 | 182.506 |
11 | 1 | Kurt Busch | GEARWRENCH Chevrolet | 29.603 | 182.414 |
12 | 9 | Chase Elliott | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 29.614 | 182.346 |
13 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Nationwide Patriotic Chevrolet | 29.618 | 182.322 |
14 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr | Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER /USO Toyota | 29.622 | 182.297 |
15 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Ally Patriotic Chevrolet | 29.649 | 182.131 |
16 | 20 | Erik Jones | Reser's Main St Bistro Toyota | 29.657 | 182.082 |
17 | 21 | Paul Menard | Menards/Knauf Ford | 29.698 | 181.83 |
18 | 6 | Ryan Newman | Oscar Mayer Hot Dogs Ford | 29.736 | 181.598 |
19 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | DEX Imaging Ford | 29.76 | 181.452 |
20 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Ground Toyota | 29.773 | 181.372 |
21 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Miller Lite Ford | 29.781 | 181.324 |
22 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Kroger Thrill of the Grill Chevrolet | 29.783 | 181.311 |
23 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Love's Travel Stops Ford | 29.783 | 181.311 |
24 | 47 | Ryan Preece # | Kroger Chevrolet | 29.839 | 180.971 |
25 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Credit One Bank Chevrolet | 29.842 | 180.953 |
26 | 36 | Matt Tifft # | Surface Sunscreen/Tunity Ford | 29.955 | 180.27 |
27 | 95 | Matt DiBenedetto | Procore Safety Qualified Toyota | 29.978 | 180.132 |
28 | 13 | Ty Dillon | GEICO Military Chevrolet | 29.983 | 180.102 |
29 | 43 | Bubba Wallace | Coca-Cola Orange Vanilla Chevrolet | 30.006 | 179.964 |
30 | 32 | Corey LaJoie | Superior Logistics Ford | 30.108 | 179.354 |
31 | 38 | David Ragan | Select Blinds Ford | 30.254 | 178.489 |
32 | 0 | Landon Cassill(i) | StarCom Fiber Chevrolet | 30.379 | 177.754 |
33 | 52 | Bayley Currey(i) | RWR Ford | 30.437 | 177.416 |
34 | 96 | Parker Kligerman(i) | Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota | 30.47 | 177.223 |
35 | 15 | Ross Chastain(i) | Cross Country Adjusting Chevrolet | 30.566 | 176.667 |
36 | 53 | BJ McLeod(i) | Enlisted Nine Fight Company Chevrolet | 30.901 | 174.752 |
37 | 27 | Reed Sorenson | VIPRacingExperience.com Chevrolet | 30.945 | 174.503 |
38 | 51 | Cody Ware(i) | JACOB COMPANIES P-40 WARHAWK Ford | 31.812 | 169.747 |
39 | 77 | Quin Houff | NASCAR Mobile App Chevrolet | 31.947 | 169.03 |
40 | 66 | Joey Gase(i) | MBM Motorsports Toyota | 32.059 | 168.439 |