AVONDALE, Ariz. - Last year, William Byron qualified on the pole in his first NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 appearance at Phoenix Raceway.
While he won't start from the point this time around, he will start in the top 10 and best of all, will pit in the best stall among anyone.
Byron turned in the eighth-quickest lap in the second round of qualifying on Saturday with a time of 26.822 seconds, solidifying his spot near the front of the field for Sunday's season finale.
The race is set to begin at 3 p.m. ET and will air on NBC.
With the run, the No. 24 squad took another step toward clinching the first championship for Byron, crew chief Rudy Fugle and the majority of the team members. It would also deliver Rick Hendrick his 15th premier series championship in 30 years and in the 40th anniversary season of Hendrick Motorsports.
Perhaps as important as the starting position, Byron was second among Championship 4 competitors but will have the first choice among pit stalls. Joey Logano, who will start second, failed inspection twice earlier in the day and was forced to pick fourth among the title-contending drivers. Ryan Blaney missed the second round and qualified 17th while Byron's lap just edged the Tyler Reddick, who will start 10th.
The qualifying effort backed up a steady run in practice on Friday as Byron turned in the fourth-best individual lap in the 50-minute, extended session.
As for the rest of the organization's driver lineup, teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott also earned top-10 starting spots. Larson used a second-round lap of 26.804 seconds to earn the fourth spot. Chase Elliott will start just behind in fifth while Alex Bowman will round out the group, rolling off 16th.
Byron, Larson and Elliott each have a win at Phoenix with Larson and Elliott both visiting victory lane to clinch a championship. Byron is riding a streak of six-straight top-six finishes. He's scored stage points in 15 straight stages at Phoenix Raceway with three stage victories.
NASCAR starting lineup for Phoenix
- Martin Truex Jr., No. 19
- Joey Logano, No. 22
- Ross Chastain, No. 1
- Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
- Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
- Ty Gibbs, No. 54
- Christopher Bell, No. 20
- William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
- Harris Burton, No. 21
- Tyler Reddick, No. 45
- Austin Cindric, No. 2
- Chase Briscoe, No. 14
- Justin Haley, No. 7
- Denny Hamlin, No. 11
- Carson Hocevar, No. 77
- Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
- Ryan Blaney, No. 12
- John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42
- Erik Jones, No. 43
- Corey LaJoie, No. 51
- Noah Gragson, No. 10
- Daniel Hemric, No. 31
- Jimmie Johnson, No. 84
- Chris Buescher, No. 17
- Kyle Busch, No. 8
- Derek Kraus, No. 16
- Brad Keselowski, No. 6
- Zane Smith, No. 71
- Bubba Wallace, No. 23
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47
- Kaz Grala, No. 15
- Todd Gilliland, No. 38
- Ryan Preece, No. 41
- Daniel Suarez, No. 99
- Michael McDowell, No. 34
- Austin Dillon, No. 3
- JJ Yeley, No. 44
- Chad Finchum, No. 66
- Josh Berry, No. 4 (crashed)
- Jeb Burton, No. 50 (did not run qualifying lap)
Where is NASCAR this weekend?
The Cup Series will race at Phoenix this Sunday.
What time is the NASCAR race this weekend?
The championship race will begin at 3 p.m. ET.
NASCAR TV schedule this week
Sunday, November 10
3 p.m. ET: Cup Series main event - NBC