Qualifying report
NASCAR Cup Daytona 500
William Byron takes Daytona 500 pole as Team Hendrick dominates
William Byron’s first career NASCAR Cup Series pole comes at the series’ biggest race.
Jim Utter
Edited: Feb 10, 2019, 8:41 PM
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Byron held off a late challenge from Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman to claim the pole for next Sunday’s Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.
Byron’s lap in the final round of 194.304 mph just edged Bowman (194.153 mph), who was the last car to make a run.
Jimmie Johnson was third-fastest, Chase Elliott was fourth and rookie Daniel Hemric completed the top-five. Only the top two drivers are locked into their starting position for the 500.
The pole is Byron’s first in 37 career starts and first working with new crew chief Chad Knaus, who won seven Cup titles with Johnson.
“We felt we were prepared and ready and this was sort of the first step of our process together,” Byron said of working with Knaus. “Hopefully, it goes well next Sunday. We can kind of hang out during the Duel races, learn a little bit.
“It’s awesome.”
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Byron, 21, said he was a little worried he left some speed on the track, particularly as he watched Bowman – last year’s Daytona 500 pole winner – make his final run.
“We just lacked a little bit getting up to speed, a little too much wheel-spin,” Byron said. “This thing is fast. Obviously, a lot of credit goes to the guys. I’m really looking forward to next Sunday.
“This is pretty special and definitely a huge blessing.”
Byron’s pole is HMS’ fifth consecutive pole in the season’s biggest race and he is the organization’s eighth different driver to do so.
Cla # Driver 4506 Laps Time Gap Interval Mph 1 24 
William Byron Chevrolet 1 46.319 194.305 2 88 
Alex Bowman Chevrolet 1 46.355 0.036 0.036 194.154 3 48 
Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 1 46.438 0.119 0.083 193.807 4 9 
Chase Elliott Chevrolet 1 46.444 0.125 0.006 193.782 5 8 Daniel Hemric Chevrolet 1 46.763 0.444 0.319 192.460 6 22 Joey Logano Ford 1 46.766 0.447 0.003 192.448 7 19 
Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 1 46.789 0.470 0.023 192.353 8 14 Clint Bowyer Ford 1 46.804 0.485 0.015 192.291 9 2 
Brad Keselowski Ford 1 46.811 0.492 0.007 192.263 10 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 1 47.018 0.699 0.207 191.416 11 21 Paul Menard Ford 1 47.094 0.775 0.076 191.107 12 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 1 47.246 0.927 0.152 190.492
Round 1
HMS led the way in the first round as it four drivers posted the top four speeds in the first round, led by Bowman (193.932 mph).
Byron ended up second (193.831 mph), Elliott was third (193.831 mph) and Johnson fourth (192.930 mph). Reigning series champion Joey Logano completed the top-five.
Also advancing to the final round were Keselowski, Truex, Bowyer, Hemric, Austin Dillon, Hamlin and Menard.
As two fastest cars without a charter in the first round, Tyler Reddick and Casey Mears have locked themselves into the Daytona 500 field based on speed.
“I’m really excited about what we’ve got,” said Reddick, the 2018 Xfinity Series champion. “It’s pretty crazy. A lot has happened in a year. I’m excited to get rolling.
“It feels awesome to be locked in. The (car) did everything it needed to for us to lock in. Can’t wait for the duels Thursday.”
Four drivers – Ryan Truex, Brendan Gaughan, Parker Kligerman and Joey Gase – will all have to race their way into the field but there are only two spots available for those four drivers.
During pre-qualifying inspection, the cars of Elliott, Austin Dillon and Ty Dillon all failed two times. The car chief of each team has been ejected for the remainder of Speedweeks and each team has lost 15 minutes from final practice prior to the 500.
Cla # Driver 4506 Laps Time Gap Interval Mph 1 88 Alex Bowman Chevrolet 1 46.408 193.932 2 24 William Byron Chevrolet 1 46.432 0.024 0.024 193.832 3 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 1 46.469 0.061 0.037 193.678 4 48 
Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 1 46.649 0.241 0.180 192.930 5 22 Joey Logano Ford 1 46.782 0.374 0.133 192.382 6 2 Brad Keselowski Ford 1 46.797 0.389 0.015 192.320 7 19 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 1 46.803 0.395 0.006 192.295 8 14 Clint Bowyer Ford 1 46.857 0.449 0.054 192.074 9 8 Daniel Hemric Chevrolet 1 46.861 0.453 0.004 192.057 10 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 1 46.938 0.530 0.077 191.742 11 11 
Denny Hamlin Toyota 1 47.009 0.601 0.071 191.453 12 21 Paul Menard Ford 1 47.072 0.664 0.063 191.196 13 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 1 47.080 0.672 0.008 191.164 14 20 Erik Jones Toyota 1 47.089 0.681 0.009 191.127 15 4 
Kevin Harvick Ford 1 47.131 0.723 0.042 190.957 16 31 Tyler Reddick Chevrolet 1 47.161 0.753 0.030 190.836 17 12 Ryan Blaney Ford 1 47.170 0.762 0.009 190.799 18 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 1 47.177 0.769 0.007 190.771 19 10 Aric Almirola Ford 1 47.185 0.777 0.008 190.739 20 41 
Daniel Suarez Ford 1 47.195 0.787 0.010 190.698 21 1 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 1 47.222 0.814 0.027 190.589 22 37 Chris Buescher Chevrolet 1 47.261 0.853 0.039 190.432 23 38 David Ragan Ford 1 47.264 0.856 0.003 190.420 24 6 Ryan Newman Ford 1 47.364 0.956 0.100 190.018 25 34 Michael McDowell Ford 1 47.374 0.966 0.010 189.978 26 27 Casey Mears Chevrolet 1 47.406 0.998 0.032 189.849 27 71 Ryan Truex Chevrolet 1 47.434 1.026 0.028 189.737 28 47 Ryan Preece Chevrolet 1 47.441 1.033 0.007 189.709 29 40 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 1 47.498 1.090 0.057 189.482 30 95 Matt DiBenedetto Toyota 1 47.515 1.107 0.017 189.414 31 62 Brendan Gaughan Chevrolet 1 47.520 1.112 0.005 189.394 32 42 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 1 47.565 1.157 0.045 189.215 33 43 Darrell Wallace Jr. Chevrolet 1 47.571 1.163 0.006 189.191 34 13 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 1 47.691 1.283 0.120 188.715 35 36 Matt Tifft Ford 1 47.703 1.295 0.012 188.667 36 96 Parker Kligerman Toyota 1 47.820 1.412 0.117 188.206 37 15 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 1 47.898 1.490 0.078 187.899 38 00 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 1 48.025 1.617 0.127 187.402 39 32 Corey Lajoie Ford 1 48.427 2.019 0.402 185.847 40 52 Cody Ware Chevrolet 1 48.983 2.575 0.556 183.737 41 51 B.J. McLeod Chevrolet 1 49.266 2.858 0.283 182.682 42 66 Joey Gase Toyota 1 49.743 3.335 0.477 180.930
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