NASCAR Cup Series: William Byron takes pole for 2019 Daytona 500

William Byron took the pole position for the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season opener, the Daytona 500, and is set to start alongside teammate Alex Bowman.

The only way to describe the single-car qualifying session for the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season opener, the 61st annual Daytona 500, is that nobody had anything for the Hendrick Motorsports drivers.

As a result, Hendrick Motorsports earned their fifth consecutive Daytona 500 pole. For this year’s running of the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, William Byron is set to lead the field to the green flag.

Byron earned the pole position for the Daytona 500, which is the first pole position of his Cup Series career, by recording a lap at 194.305 miles per hour (46.319 seconds) in the second of two rounds of this qualifying session in his #24 Chevrolet. In the first round, his lap at 193.832 miles per hour (46.432) was the second fastest lap behind the lap of teammate Alex Bowman.

More from NASCAR Cup Series

• NASCAR Cup Series: New team set to compete in 2024
• NASCAR: Surprising name continuously linked to new seat
• NASCAR driver at risk of missing the Daytona 500?
• NASCAR set for rare appearance last seen 13 years ago
• NASCAR team adds third car, names driver for 2024 Daytona 500

Bowman is set to start the race on the outside of the front row after recording a lap at 194.154 miles per hour (46.355 seconds) in the second round of this qualifying session in his #88 Chevrolet. In the first round, his lap at 193.932 miles per hour (46.408 seconds) was the fastest lap.

By qualifying on the front row, Byron and Bowman are the only two drivers who have locked in their starting position for the race, which is scheduled to take place next Sunday, February 17. The two Gander RV Duels this Thursday, February 14 are set to determine the rest of the driver lineup.

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Chase Elliott finished the qualifying session right behind Byron and Bowman and just missed locking themselves into front row starting positions for the race. Johnson was the third fastest driver in the second round in his #48 Chevrolet while Elliott was the fourth fastest driver in his #9 Chevrolet.

All four Hendrick Motorsports drivers finished both the first round and the second round of qualifying in the top four on the speed chart, and no other drivers were even close in either round.

Richard Childress Racing rookie Daniel Hemric ended up finishing in fifth place in the second round of qualifying in his #8 Chevrolet. Team Penske’s Joey Logano, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., Stewart-Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer, Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski and Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon rounded out the top 10 by finishing in sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place in their #22 Ford, #19 Toyota, #14 Ford, #2 Ford and #3 Chevrolet, respectively.

Wood Brothers Racing’s Paul Menard and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin were the other two drivers who advanced to the second round of this qualifying session. They finished in 11th and 12th place in their #21 Ford and #11 Toyota, respectively.

Here are the full qualifying results for the 2019 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Make note of the fact that only Byron and Bowman are locked into their starting positions for the race.

Second round

Rank – Driver – Speed (miles per hour)
1 – William Byron – 194.305
2 – Alex Bowman – 194.154
3 – Jimmie Johnson – 193.807
4 – Chase Elliott – 193.782
5 – Daniel Hemric – 192.460
6 – Joey Logano – 192.448
7 – Martin Truex Jr. – 192.353
8 – Clint Bowyer – 192.291
9 – Brad Keselowski – 192.263
10 – Austin Dillon – 191.416
11 – Paul Menard – 191.107
12 – Denny Hamlin – 190.492

First round

Rank – Driver – Speed (miles per hour)
13 – Kyle Busch – 191.164
14 – Erik Jones – 191.127
15 – Kevin Harvick – 190.957
16 – Tyler Reddick – 190.836
17 – Ryan Blaney – 190.799
18 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – 190.771
19 – Aric Almirola – 190.739
20 – Daniel Suarez – 190.698
21 – Kurt Busch – 190.589
22 – Chris Buescher – 190.432
23 – David Ragan – 190.420
24 – Ryan Newman – 190.018
25 – Michael McDowell – 189.978
26 – Casey Mears – 189.849
27 – Ryan Truex – 189.737
28 – Ryan Preece – 189.709
29 – Jamie McMurray – 189.482
30 – Matt DiBenedetto – 189.414
31 – Brendan Gaughan – 189.394
32 – Kyle Larson – 189.215
33 – Darrell Wallace Jr. – 189.191
34 – Ty Dillon – 188.715
35 – Matt Tifft – 188.667
36 – Parker Kligerman – 188.206
37 – Ross Chastain – 187.899
38 – Landon Cassill – 187.402
39 – Corey Lajoie – 185.847
40 – Cody Ware – 183.737
41 – B.J. McLeod – 182.682
42 – Joey Gase – 180.930

Be sure to tune in to Fox Sports 1 at 7:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, February 14 for the live broadcast of the two Gander RV Duels from Daytona International Speedway to set the starting lineup for the opening race of the 36-race 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season, the 61st annual Daytona 500. Be sure to tune in to Fox at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 17 for the live broadcast of the Daytona 500 itself.