William Byron continued his white-hot season and rewrote the history books in qualifying for Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, becoming NASCAR’s first Cup Series (NCS) driver to earn a pole at four different road courses. The 25-year-old has now won the pole at the Charlotte ROVAL™ (2019), Road America (2021), the Indianapolis Road Course (2021) and Circuit of The Americas (COTA).
The triumph capped an up-and-down 24 hours for the Hendrick Motorsports driver, whose final-round qualifying effort on Friday for the Pit Boss Grills 250 presented by USA TODAY was disqualified after officials determined he exceeded track limits.
“It’s been an up and down weekend,” he said. “It’s good to get the pole, but there’s lot of physical work to do. Hopefully we can prepare throughout the day today and get ready for tomorrow.”
The two-minute 10.76-second pole-winning lap adds to a recent hot streak for Byron, who’s notched two wins already this season.
“It’s great to see things come together as they are,” Byron said. “I’m not really surprised by what our team is capable of, but it’s a long season. We’ve got a lot of things still to do and accomplish.”
Byron held off a hard-charging Tyler Reddick, whose No. 45 Toyota will start on the outside pole when the green flag falls Sunday.
Austin Cindric qualified third. IMSA sports car star Jordan Taylor, making his NCS debut, will start fourth, filling in for the injured Chase Elliott. Taylor will be joined by two Formula One champions in the field. Kimi Raikkonen will start 22nd, with Jenson Button in 24th. Seven-time NCS champion Jimmie Johnson will make his first COTA start from the 31st position.
Tickets:
Tickets for Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix are on sale at NASCARatCOTA.com. Sunday tickets, which include the Darius Rucker pre-race concert, start at $70 for adults and just $10 for kids 12 and under. Further details can be found on the NASCAR at COTA website.
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