For the second time in his NASCAR Cup Series career, William Byron is set to lead the field to green at Phoenix Raceway.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver captured the pole position for Sunday’s Shriners Children’s 500 at the one-mile racetrack in Avondale, Arizona, posting a time of 26.930 seconds (133.680mph).
Of the 37 drivers that posted a qualifying time on Saturday, only Byron was able to break into the 26-second bracket, beating defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano for the pole.
STARTING LINEUP: Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway
It’s the 14th NASCAR Cup Series pole for the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet, and the first in nearly one year — since winning the pole (and the race) at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in March 2024.
Byron also has one previous pole at Phoenix Raceway at NASCAR’s top level, leading the field to the green in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race, before ultimately finishing fourth.
“I did not hit my marks,” said Byron. “I was sideways, I just carried a ton of entry speed I felt like I missed the middle of the corner and just coming off the dog leg I was so loose, I just was going to try to commit to the exit to see how much I could get out of the exits even those I missed the centers. Just a fast car.”
The No. 24 team knows a thing or two about bringing fast race cars to @phoenixraceway. pic.twitter.com/Nl7pCySlsh
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 8, 2025
“Thanks to my whole team. They’ve been bringing great cars and we’ve been doing a really good job executing, so definitely want to go out there and have a great run tomorrow, I feel like our car was really good in race trim.”
Defending NASCAR Cup Series champion and winner of last November’s event at Phoenix Raceway, Joey Logano, will start from the outside of the front row for Sunday’s 312-lap contest.
Carson Hocevar, who paced a 45-minute practice session for the NASCAR Cup Series, was third-quickest in qualifying, while Josh Berry and Erik Jones completed a very surprising top-five.
Chase Elliott, winner of the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, will start from sixth, with another pair of Spire Motorsports teammates, Michael McDowell and Justin Haley, in seventh and eighth. It’s the first time in the organization’s history that Spire Motorsports has placed three entries inside the top-10 in NASCAR Cup Series qualifying.
Carson Hocevar (P3), Michael McDowell (P7), and Justin Haley (P8) will start inside the top-10 in Sunday's #ShrinersChildrens500 at Phoenix — the first time @SpireMotorsport has placed three entries inside the top-10 in qualifying.#NASCAR | ?: @Jacy_Norgaard, HHP for Chevy pic.twitter.com/pKaLb2ZUbC
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) March 8, 2025
Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-10.
Christopher Bell, who looks to become the first driver to win three-in-a-row in the NextGen era, will start from 11th place, with 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney starting 12th.
Other notable drivers include: Chris Buescher (13th), Austin Cindric (14th), Kyle Busch (15th), Kyle Larson (17th), Brad Keselowski (20th), Ross Chastain (24th), Chase Briscoe (30th), Alex Bowman (32nd), and Ty Gibbs (34th).
Katherine Legge, making her NASCAR Cup Series debut in the No. 78 Chevrolet for Live Fast Motorsports, held her own in qualifying on Saturday, and despite locking into 37th place, was only two-tenths of a second off 36th-place driver John Hunter Nemechek.
RELATED: Katherine Legge Ready to Tackle NASCAR Cup Series Debut at Phoenix
Legge is making her first laps in the seventh-generation racecar, as well as her first laps at Phoenix Raceway.
The Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway will take place on Sunday, March 9 at 3:30 PM ET on FOX Sports 1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
