For the third time this season, William Byron will lead the field to green in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event, scoring the pole in advance of Sunday’s HighPoint.com 400 at Pocono Raceway.
Byron, driving the No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports, scored his 11th career pole in NASCAR’s premier series, posting a lap of 52.746 seconds (170.629mph) to capture the top spot in the second round of qualifying.
Last weekend’s winner from New Hampshire, Martin Truex, Jr. will start alongside the 25-year-old driver in Sunday’s 400-mile contest, posting a lap of 52.868 seconds (170.235mph) to be second-quickest.
Kyle Larson will start from the inside of the second row, while Kevin Harvick and Christopher Bell each posted laps quick enough to earn top-five starting spots for the HighPoint.com 400.
Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, Austin Cindric, and Bubba Wallace will round out the top-10 to start the event, as a result of advancing to the second and final round of qualifying from Pocono Raceway.
Bubba Wallace will start from the outside of the fifth row on Sunday, following the decision to abort his run after making significant contact with the outside wall. The Mobile, Alabama native was the fastest driver in Group A.
Corey LaJoie, who has made notable improvements with Spire Motorsports this season, will start from 12th, after putting down the best qualifying effort of his NASCAR Cup Series career.
Other notables starting outside the top-10 include Ryan Blaney (14th), Alex Bowman (20th), Ross Chastain (21st), Kyle Busch (26th), and Chase Elliott (35th).
Elliott, who is looking to claw his way into the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs after a seven-race absence, will start from 35th after spinning his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro during his qualifying lap.
Todd Gilliland also spun during his qualifying lap on Saturday, which will put him shotgun on the field to start Sunday’s 160-lap contest.
Qualifying Results: 2023 HighPoint.com 400
2023 NASCAR Cup Series HighPoint.com 400 at Pocono Qualifying Results
