William Byron Takes Daytona 500 Pole, First Pole of Cup Series Career

By Toby Christie         

William Byron and Chad Knaus will get their new partnership started from the front row in the Daytona 500.

Knaus, the crew chief who was split from his long-time driver Jimmie Johnson following a disappointing 2018 campaign was paired with the 21-year-old Byron.

In Sunday’s qualifying session at Daytona International Speedway, Byron was the fastest driver in the final 12-car round of qualifying with a lap speed of 194.305 mph (46.319 sec.). Not only is it Byron’s first-career pole in NASCAR’s most prestigious race, but it is also his first overall pole in 37 career attempts.

Byron barely eked out his Hendrick Motorsports teammates for the pole, as HMS cars were the four-fastest qualifiers in the session.

Alex Bowman, who won the pole for the Daytona 500 a year ago, has locked in his second-place starting position. The front row is all that gets locked in for next Sunday’s Daytona 500, as the rest of the field will be set in Thursday’s Gander RV Duel qualifying races.

CLICK HERE FOR 2019 DAYTONA 500 QUALIFYING RESULTS (pdf)

CLICK HERE FOR GANDER RV DUEL 1 STARTING LINEUP (pdf)

CLICK HERE FOR GANDER RV DUEL 2 STARTING LINEUP (pdf)

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