Ty Gibbs will look to score his first NASCAR Cup Series win in one of the sport’s crown jewel events, the Coca-Cola 600. The 21-year-old racer turned the fastest lap in the second round of NASCAR Cup Series qualifying on Saturday evening to score his first career pole position. Now, Gibbs has the prime starting position in NASCAR’s longest race as he chases his first career NASCAR Cup Series race win.
While the pole is nice, Gibbs has his sights set on the overall race win.
“It’s really cool to get the pole here for my first time in the Coca-Cola 600, but, for me, I think the biggest thing is winning the race,” Gibbs emphasized. “The pole is great. It helps us out a lot, but it doesn’t win us the race.”
The driver of the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE turned a fast lap time of 29.355 seconds (183.955 mph), which was enough to knock William Byron off of the provisional pole.
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After dodging a couple of bullets in the form of Alex Bowman, and Martin Truex Jr., who took to the track after Gibbs’ pole-winning run, Gibbs was awarded the Busch Light Pole Award.
William Byron will chase his second NASCAR Cup Series Crown Jewel win of the 2024 season from the outside pole position as the Daytona 500 winner snagged the second starting spot for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 in Saturday’s qualifying session at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Byron was just 0.060 seconds off of Gibbs’ pole-winning pace.
Christopher Bell, and Martin Truex Jr., Gibbs’ Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, will start from the second row as they secured the third and fourth starting spots for Sunday’s race.
Chase Elliott, who won Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series BetMGM 300 at Charlotte, will start from the fifth position, and he’ll be flanked by Alex Bowman, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, in sixth.
Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, Michael McDowell, and Kyle Larson rounded out the top-10 qualifiers in Saturday’s qualifying session.
While Reddick was eighth-fastest, he’ll have to drop to the rear of the field before Sunday’s race, and make a pass-thru penalty after the start of Sunday’s race. Reddick’s No. 45 car was discovered to have an unapproved adjustment to the underwing following a trip through inspection.
It’ll be a tough road to a potential win for Reddick, but he certainly has a fast 23XI Racing Toyota this weekend.
And for 10th-place starter Larson, he now knows the starting position that he’ll carry in both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday as he attempts to be the first driver in 10 years to complete the Memorial Day Double.
Larson will start the morning off in the fifth position in the Indianapolis 500 starting lineup, and will then travel to Charlotte where he will fire off from the 10th position in the Coca-Cola 600.
The second round of NASCAR Cup Series qualifying took place after a brief delay for weather, which rolled in at the conclusion of the opening round of the session.
Earlier in the day, Byon turned the fastest lap in NASCAR Cup Series practice around the 1.5-mile speedway. But it wasn’t a perfect session for Byron as the driver of the No. 24 machine spun his car off of Turn 4 at one point in the practice.
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Chris Buescher also spun his No. 17 RFK Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse, but unlike Byron, he was unable to keep it out of the wall. Buescher slammed driver’s side first into the outside wall, and skidded to a stop. Buescher and his RFK Racing team are looking to go to their backup car for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600.
