William Byron starts his second straight race from the pole
It doesn't matter the size or shape of the racetrack: William Byron is red hot when it comes to NASCAR qualifying. The 21-year-old driver won his second straight pole on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series circuit and will start up front for the 2019 Pocono 400.
Byron mastered the triangular-shaped track one week after earning the pole for the sport’s longest event, the Coca-Cola 600. He's now earned a top-3 starting spot in four straight races; his three poles overall is tied for the series lead with Kevin Harvick.
Qualifying also continues to be a bright spot in what's been a difficult year for Chevrolet. They've now earned the pole in eight of 13 races thus far with six of those coming from Hendrick Motorsports. The problem has been translating that speed into race trim; no Chevy pole sitter has gone on to finish better than fifth.
Thirty-seven (37) cars attempted to qualify for 40 spots on the Pocono grid, meaning all drivers made the race.
1. William Byron
2. Kyle Busch
3. Clint Bowyer
4. Erik Jones
5. Brad Keselowski
6. Denny Hamlin
7. Kyle Larson
8. Jimmie Johnson
9. Daniel Suarez
10. Austin Dillon
11. Kevin Harvick
12. Chase Elliott
13. Aric Almirola
14. Paul Menard
15. Alex Bowman
16. Joey Logano
17. Ryan Blaney
18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
19. Ryan Newman
20. Martin Truex Jr.
21. Kurt Busch
22. Matt DiBenedetto
23. Daniel Hemric
24. Chris Buescher
25. Ty Dillon
26. Bubba Wallace
27. David Ragan
28. Michael McDowell
29. Ryan Preece
30. Matt Tifft
31. Landon Cassill (i)
32. Ross Chastain (i)
33. Corey Lajoie
34. Bayley Currey (i)
35. Reed Sorenson
36. Quin Houff
37. JJ Yeley
(i) - Ineligible to collect Cup Series points
Failed To Qualify
None
QUALIFYING NOTES
- Byron earned his best career starting spot in three Pocono races. He had qualified no better than 16th in the previous two. Despite his third pole of the year the second-year Cup driver is still seeking his first top-5 finish of 2019.
- Kyle Busch (2nd) earned his best starting spot of the year. He was also the fastest qualifying Toyota.
- Clint Bowyer (3rd) has qualified 10th or better in five straight races. He was also the fastest qualifying Ford.
- Erik Jones (4th) tied his season best qualifying effort. He started fourth at Bristol back in April.
- Martin Truex Jr. (20th) has only qualified in the top 10 four times in 14 races with Joe Gibbs Racing.
- Daniel Hemric (23rd) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
- Bayley Currey (34th) moves to the No. 51 of Rick Ware Racing this week after running the No. 52 car at Charlotte. He replaces rookie Cody Ware.
- JJ Yeley (37th) will run the No. 52 of Rick Ware Racing in a one-race deal with sponsorship from Steakhouse Elite. It’s his first Cup Series start of 2019.
NASCAR RACE BREAKDOWN
Race: Pocono 400
Track: Pocono Raceway (Long Pond, Pa.)
Date: Sunday, June 2
Time: 2 p.m. ET
TV: FS1
Radio: MRN, SIRIUS XM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 160 laps (400 miles)
Stage 1: 50 Laps
Stage 2: 50 Laps
Final Stage: 60 Laps
PRE-RACE ANALYSIS
