Byron earns Kansas Cup pole in all-Hendrick front row

Byron, who had tagged the wall earlier in the day in practice, suffered no ill-effects with his No. 24 Chevrolet in qualifying.

Although he was among the first five in the final round to go out, Byron’s average lap speed of 179.206 mph was enough to claim the pole for Sunday’s race.

Byron edged out his HMS teammate Kyle Larson (179.170 mph), who was second-fastest while fellow Chevrolet driver Ross Chastain was third (179.134 mph).

The pole is the second of the 2023 season for Byron and 10th of his career. All 10 of his poles have come at different tracks.

“Yeah, man it’s awesome,” Byron said. “Our car was good enough there. I almost got the fence in (Turns) 3 and 4 there but the guys brought a great car here.

“We struggled a little bit off the truck. I hit the wall like a dummy (in practice). So, I got that mistake out of the way and then got some solid practice.

“I enjoy coming to Kansas. It’s a fun race track. It’s going to be really challenging tomorrow, running against the fence. That’s going to be the dominant groove. Right now, we’re going to enjoy the pole.”

Martin Truex Jr. ended up fourth and Tyler Reddick rounded out the top five.

Completing the top-10 starting lineup are Joey Logano, Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin, Daniel Suarez and Ryan Blaney.

Round 1 / Group A

Truex, who earned his first win of the season last weekend, was the final car to go out in Group A and went straight to the top with an average speed of 177.119 mph.

Byron was second-fastest (177.072 mph) and Blaney was third (176.586 mph).

“I think our (car) was pretty decent. Hopefully, we can make a little adjustment before we head to the second round,” Blaney said.

Also advancing to the final round of qualifying were Logano and Suarez.

Among those who failed to move on were Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones and Chase Elliott.

Josh Bilicki, who spun and hit the wall in Saturday’s practice, did not attempt a qualifying run in his No. 78 Chevrolet.

Round 1 / Group B

Chastain, the final car in Group B to make a qualifying attempt, rocked to the top of the speed chart with an average lap speed of 178.666 mph – the fastest lap of the day at the time.

Reddick was second-fastest (178.453 mph) and Larson was third (178.453 mph).

Also advancing to the final round of qualifying were Gibbs and Hamlin, who was fastest in Saturday’s practice.

Among those who failed to move on were Austin Dillon, Christopher Bell, Kevin Harvick and Chris Buescher.