AVONDALE, Ariz. — William Byron won the pole for Sunday Shriners Children’s 500 during qualifying Saturday afternoon at Phoenix Raceway.
The driver of the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet turned a lap of 26.93 seconds at 133.680 mph on the one-mile desert race track.
“Just a fast car,’’ said Byron, who leads the NASCAR Cup Series standings. “Thanks to my whole team. They’ve been bringing fast cars, and we’ve been doing a really good job of executing. So definitely want to go out there and have a great day tomorrow.’’
It was Byron’s 14th pole in 256 NASCAR Cup Series starts and his second at Phoenix.
Joey Logano, who clinched his third NASCAR Cup Series title with a victory at Phoenix in November, was the second fastest qualifier in his Team Penske Ford.
“The last car. I told Paul (Wolfe) just a second ago that it was going to really suck if the last car beat us and that is what happened,” Logano said. “Obviously a real fast lap we ran there and overall it is a really good starting spot. We will tune her in a little bit. We have a little bit of work to do in race trim but I don’t think we are that bad by any means. We started second and won last time, so we will just have to go do it again.”
Carson Hocevar qualified third in his Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, while Josh Berry will start fourth in the Wood Brothers Racing Ford.
The top qualifying Toyota belonged to Legacy Motor Club driver Erik Jones, who will start fifth.
Chase Elliott, Michael McDowell, Justin Haley, Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin completed the top 10.
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