Qualifying report
NASCAR Cup Phoenix II
William Byron earns pole position for NASCAR Cup title-decider
William Byron’s quest for his first NASCAR Cup championship will begin in the best position possible.
Jim Utter
Edited: Nov 5, 2023, 2:20 AM
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Only two of the four drivers eligible to win the 2023 season title advanced to the final round of qualifying Saturday, but Byron came away with top overall average speed at 132.597 mph to win the pole for Sunday’s season finale.
Whoever finishes highest among Byron, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney will the championship.
The pole is the fourth this season for Byron, but first in the playoffs. It’s also the 12th of his career.
“My team is really going to like this,” said Byron, 25, who will get the first pit stall for Sunday’s race. “It’s going to be fun. All my family and friends are here, all my friends from high school. It’s going to be fun to hang out with them over tonight and just enjoy.
“This is a great opportunity. I want to be here every year. It’s really fun to be a part of and we need to take advantage of it.”
Martin Truex Jr. ended up second fastest (132.509 mph) and Kevin Harvick – making his final career start – will line up third (132.421 mph).
Larson ended up fourth and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top five.
Completing the top-10 lineup are Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones, Ross Chastain, Chris Buescher and Tyler Reddick.
During his qualifying lap, Reddick hit the wall between Turns 3 and 4, doing some damage to the right-rear of his No. 45 Toyota.
Bell and Blaney both failed to advance to the final round of qualifying and will start Sunday’s race 13th and 15th, respectively.
Cla Driver # Manufacturer Laps Time Interval Mph 1 
W. BYRONHendrick Motorsports 24 Chevrolet 1
27.150
132.597 2 M. TRUEX JRJoe Gibbs Racing 19 Toyota 1
+0.018
27.168
0.018 132.509 3 K. HARVICKStewart-Haas Racing 4 Ford 1
+0.036
27.186
0.018 132.421 4 K. LARSONHendrick Motorsports 5 Chevrolet 1
+0.041
27.191
0.005 132.397 5 B. WALLACE23XI Racing 23 Toyota 1
+0.069
27.219
0.028 132.261 6 D. HAMLINJoe Gibbs Racing 11 Toyota 1
+0.094
27.244
0.025 132.139 7 E. JONESLegacy Motor Club 43 Chevrolet 1
+0.218
27.368
0.124 131.540 8 R. CHASTAINTrackHouse Racing 1 Chevrolet 1
+0.236
27.386
0.018 131.454 9 C. BUESCHERRFK Racing 17 Ford 1
+0.308
27.458
0.072 131.109 10 T. REDDICK23XI Racing 45 Toyota 1
+0.807
27.957
0.499 128.769
Round 1 / Group A
Harvick posted the fastest average lap speed at 133.003 mph in Group A – which also turned out to be the fastest of the day.
Title contender Byron was second quick at 132.969 mph while Wallace was third (132.694 mph).
Also advancing to the final round were title contender Larson and Jones.
Among those who failed to move on were Ty Gibbs, Todd Gilliland, Joey Logano and Chase Elliott.
Brad Keselowski did not qualify his No. 6 Ford as he returned to North Carolina for the birth of he and his wife Paige’s third child. Cole Custer qualified the car in the 31st position.
Cla Driver # Manufacturer Laps Time Interval Mph 1 K. HARVICKStewart-Haas Racing 4 Ford 1
27.067
133.003 2 W. BYRONHendrick Motorsports 24 Chevrolet 1
+0.007
27.074
0.007 132.969 3 B. WALLACE23XI Racing 23 Toyota 1
+0.063
27.130
0.056 132.694 4 K. LARSONHendrick Motorsports 5 Chevrolet 1
+0.082
27.149
0.019 132.602 5 E. JONESLegacy Motor Club 43 Chevrolet 1
+0.084
27.151
0.002 132.592 6
T. GIBBSJoe Gibbs Racing
54 Toyota 1
+0.114
27.181
0.030 132.445 7 T. GILLILANDFront Row Motorsports 38 Ford 1
+0.138
27.205
0.024 132.329 8 J. LOGANOTeam Penske 22 Ford 1
+0.174
27.241
0.036 132.154 9 C. ELLIOTTHendrick Motorsports 9 Chevrolet 1
+0.199
27.266
0.025 132.033 10 A. DILLONRichard Childress Racing 3 Chevrolet 1
+0.208
27.275
0.009 131.989 11
C. HOCEVARLegacy Motor Club
42 Chevrolet 1
+0.213
27.280
0.005 131.965 12 A. BOWMANHendrick Motorsports 48 Chevrolet 1
+0.228
27.295
0.015 131.892 13 R. STENHOUSE JRJTG Daugherty Racing 47 Chevrolet 1
+0.249
27.316
0.021 131.791 14 H. BURTONWood Brothers Racing 21 Ford 1
+0.354
27.421
0.105 131.286 15 A. ALMIROLAStewart-Haas Racing 10 Ford 1
+0.393
27.460
0.039 131.100 16 C. CUSTERKaulig Racing 6 Chevrolet 1
+0.515
27.582
0.122 130.520 17 J. HALEYKaulig Racing 31 Chevrolet 1
+0.936
28.003
0.421 128.558 18 B. MCLEODLive Fast Motorsports 78 Chevrolet 1
+2.181
29.248
1.245 123.085
Round 1 / Group B
Chastain, who went out relatively early, led the way in Group B with an average lap speed of 132.812 mph.
Hamlin was second fastest at 132.724 mph while Buescher was third at 132.699 mph.
Also advancing to the final round of qualifying were Reddick and Truex.
Among those who failed to advance were both title contenders in the second group – Bell, who was seventh, and Blaney, who was eighth.
Blaney had been the fastest among the Championship 4 drivers in Friday’s lone practice session.
Cla Driver # Manufacturer Laps Time Interval Mph 1 R. CHASTAINTrackHouse Racing 1 Chevrolet 1
27.106
132.812 2 D. HAMLINJoe Gibbs Racing 11 Toyota 1
+0.018
27.124
0.018 132.724 3 C. BUESCHERRFK Racing 17 Ford 1
+0.023
27.129
0.005 132.699 4 T. REDDICK23XI Racing 45 Toyota 1
+0.044
27.150
0.021 132.597 5 R. PREECEStewart-Haas Racing 41 Ford 1
+0.076
27.182
0.032 132.441 6 M. TRUEX JRJoe Gibbs Racing 19 Toyota 1
+0.076
27.182
0.000 132.441 7 C. BELLJoe Gibbs Racing 20 Toyota 1
+0.097
27.203
0.021 132.338 8 R. BLANEYTeam Penske 12 Ford 1
+0.112
27.218
0.015 132.265 9 
D. SUAREZTrackHouse Racing 99 Chevrolet 1
+0.126
27.232
0.014 132.197 10 K. BUSCHRichard Childress Racing 8 Chevrolet 1
+0.140
27.246
0.014 132.129 11 M. MCDOWELLFront Row Motorsports 34 Ford 1
+0.143
27.249
0.003 132.115 12 C. BRISCOEStewart-Haas Racing 14 Ford 1
+0.338
27.444
0.195 131.176 13 A. CINDRICTeam Penske 2 Ford 1
+0.340
27.446
0.002 131.167 14 C. LAJOIESpire Motorsports 7 Chevrolet 1
+0.451
27.557
0.111 130.638 15 R. NEWMANRick Ware Racing 51 Ford 1
+0.472
27.578
0.021 130.539 16 A. ALLMENDINGERKaulig Racing 16 Chevrolet 1
+0.493
27.599
0.021 130.440 17 T. DILLONSpire Motorsports 77 Chevrolet 1
+0.500
27.606
0.007 130.406 18 J. YELEYRick Ware Racing 15 Ford 1
+0.556
27.662
0.056 130.142
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