DARLINGTON, S.C. - As one of its many monikers infers, there may be no tougher track to tame than Darlington Raceway.
With hot temperatures forecasted, the slick racing surface of the 1.366-mile, egg-shaped oval only figures to be more treacherous when the green flag flies over the NASCAR Cup Series field on Sunday afternoon.
So, obviously, any advantage helps.
And what better edge could be had that a solid starting spot, free of traffic and dirty air? That was what was on the line early Saturday afternoon as Cup Series drivers took to the track to turn in their best single-lap efforts.
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William Byron, a former winner at Darlington, will certainly have a clean look out of his windshield after laying down a monster lap of 28.77 seconds to take the pole for Sunday's main event. It marked his second pole award at the track and is the fastest qualifying time at Darlington Raceway in the Next Gen era.
"Just a good week of prep by our guys, just really proud of their effort," Byron said. "The lap, I felt like (turns) one and two were really good, I felt like I gave up a little bit in four and you can kind of see that on the tracker. Was just good enough to get through there and through the middle of three and four was also pretty decent.
"We usually run really well here so we've just got to put it together tomorrow."
As for the rest of the Hendrick Motorsports contingent, Chase Elliott will start 15th with Kyle Larson four spots behind in 19th. Alex Bowman rounded out the company's entries and will roll off 33rd.
Saturday was the first time drivers hit the track this weekend with much of the field sporting old paint schemes as part of Throwback Weekend. All four Hendrick Motorsports cars are also paying homage to schemes of the past. Larson's No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet honors Terry Labonte's last career win, which came at Darlington in 2003. Bowman's No. 48 Ally Chevy livery is a nod to Jimmie Johnson's win in the 2012 Southern 500, which also served as the 200th win for Hendrick Motorsports. Elliott's No. 9 Unifirst scheme is a throwback to Ken Schrader's 1994 look. Finally, Byron's No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet sports the same scheme as Jeff Gordon's car at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2015, his final race as a full-time driver.
"It's pretty special. Honestly, that's a pretty recent for me, I remember that race and what that meant," Byron said. "It's really cool to have a lot of Jeff's paint schemes over the years. I've had some really cool throwbacks. I've been fortunate to have that and have partners like Axalta to be able to make it exact."
Both Larson and Byron have a Cup Series win at Darlington. Elliott was also set to run Saturday's Xfinity Series event, having qualified eighth earlier on Saturday morning.
A practice session was held prior to Saturday's qualifying session with cars split into two groups with each getting 25 minutes of track time. Byron turned in the fastest lap among the second group with a time of 29.52 seconds, good enough for sixth overall.
Sunday's race is set to start at 3 p.m. and will air on FS1.
NASCAR Cup Series qualifying lineup for Sunday
- William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet, 28.77
- Ryan Preece, No. 60, 28.86
- Denny Hamlin, No. 11, 28.87
- Chase Briscoe, No. 19, 28.88
- Bubba Wallace, No. 23, 28.9
- Austin Cindric, No. 2, 28.95
- Tyler Reddick, 28.96
- Kyle Busch, No. 8, 28.96
- Ryan Blaney, No. 12, 28.96
- Michael McDowell, No. 71, 28.97
- Ty Gibbs, No. 54, 28.98
- Todd Gilliland, No. 34, 28.99
- Carson Hocevar, No. 77, 28.99
- Chris Buescher, No. 17, 29.0
- Chase Elliott, No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet, 29.0
- Zane Smith, No. 38, 29.01
- Christopher Bell, No. 20, 29.02
- Joey Logano, No. 22, 29.04
- Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 29.08
- Brad Keselowski, No. 6, 29.17
- Justin Haley, No. 7, 29.19
- AJ Allmendinger, No. 16, 29.23
- Austin Dillon, No. 3, 29.25
- Josh Berry, No. 4, 29.27
- Ross Chastain, No. 1, 29.29
- Noah Gragson, No. 4, 29.29
- John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42, 29.32
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47, 29.32
- Ty Dillon, No. 10, 29.41
- Daniel Suarez, No. 99, 29.46
- Cole Custer, No. 41, 29.48
- Riley Herbst, No. 35, 29.53
- Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 29.57
- Erik Jones, No. 43, 29.62
- Cody Ware, No. 51, 29.76
- Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88, 29.93
- Austin Hill, No. 33, 30.07
- JJ Yeley, No. 44, 30.31
NASCAR practice results
- Carson Hocevar, No. 77, 29.26
- Josh Berry, No. 21, 29.41
- Erik Jones, No. 43, 29.42
- Austin Cindric, No. 2, 29.48
- Justin Haley, No. 7, 29.52
- William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet, 29.52
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47, 29.58
- Ty Gibbs, No. 54, 29.58
- Austin Dillon, No. 3, 29.63
- Brad Keselowski, No. 6, 29.67
- Ryan Preece, No. 60, 29.72
- Denny Hamlin, No. 11, 29.74
- Ryan Blaney, No. 12, 29.77
- Chase Briscoe, No. 19, 29.77
- Chris Buescher, No. 17, 29.79
- Tyler Reddick, No. 45, 29.79
- Ross Chastain, No. 1, 29.81
- Daniel Suarez, No. 99, 29.81
- Noah Gragson, No. 4, 29.81
- Bubba Wallace, No. 23, 29.82
- Chase Elliott, No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet, 29.83
- Michael McDowell, No. 71, 29.85
- Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 29.86
- John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42, 29.89
- Kyle Busch, No. 8 29.91
- AJ Allmendinger, No. 16, 29.92
- Todd Gilliland, No. 34, 29.93
- Zane Smith, No. 38, 29.94
- Christopher Bell, No. 20, 29.97
- Cole Custer, No. 41, 30.04
- Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 30.05
- Austin Hill, No. 33, 30.06
- Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88, 30.11
- Joey Logano, No. 22, 30.12
- Ty Dillon, No. 10, 30.18
- Riley Herbst, No. 35, 30.24
- Cody Ware, No. 51, 30.28
- JJ Yeley, No. 44, 30.71
What channel is NASCAR on today?
Saturday, April 5
- 3:30 p.m. - Xfinity Series race, CW
Sunday, April 6
- 3 p.m. - Cup Series race, FS1