WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – William Byron grabbed the pole position for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen International.
Byron piloted the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro to a new track record in the final round of qualifying at 125.021 mph. That came after he had previously set a track record in the opening round of qualifying at 124.596 mph.
The pole position is the second for the No. 17 team in its three events this season - the other coming at Road America last month. It is also Byron's third in the series. For Hendrick Motorsports, its the team's 39th career Xfinity Series pole.
"It was a fun lap for sure," Byron said. "We had a fun practice. I knew kind of the way it felt in practice. I was like, man it feels good. I think this thing has a lot of potential. Just happy about that.
"Thanks to Mr. Hendrick for putting this together. He wants this one bad, so hopefully we can go get it for him."
The Charlotte, North Carolina, native’s start at the seven-turn, 2.45-mile course marks Byron’s third Xfinity Series start of the year, but his first in the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro with crew chief Kevin Meendering. In his two previous starts this season, he drove the No. 88 JR Motorsports (JRM) Chevrolet Camaro with a runner-up finish at Texas Motor Speedway standing as his best result. The 24-year-old’s four Xfinity wins came in his championship season of 2017 with JRM.
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Larson will earned the third qualifying spot in Saturday's field in the No. 88 JRM Chevrolet. However, the No. 88 team had to fix an issue with the carburetor after its lap during the first round of qualifying. As a result, the 30-year-old from Elk Grove, California, will drop to the rear prior to the green flag for the 82-lap event.
This weekend marks Larson’s second of three Xfinity starts in 2022 with the final one also coming for JRM at Darlington Raceway on Sept. 3. He has 12 wins in his career in the series and won at this track in last year’s Cup Series race.
In the 20-minute practice session ahead of qualifying, Byron placed third (122.288 mph) and also sported the best 10-lap average among the six drivers to run 10 consecutive laps. Larson took fifth in the session (121.585 mph).
RELATED: Check out this weekend's paint schemes for Watkins Glen
Larson was the first to pilot the team’s No. 17 entry this season with a runner-up finish at Road America last month. Alex Bowman also earned a second-place result when he drove the car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course three weeks ago.
The organization’s limited foray into the Xfinity ranks has been well worth it to the drivers, according to team president and general manager Jeff Andrews.
"I think both races (so far) for us have been a success and have given our drivers a good opportunity for some on-track exposure to the different circuits they ran at," Andrews told HendrickMotorsports.com. "When we started with the thought of doing that, it was to try and get some more experience for those drivers, particularly around road courses."
Byron will look to add to the organization’s total of 26 wins in the series. Tony Stewart earned the last win-to-date for the team in 2009 at Daytona International Speedway. The No. 17 car number for the Xfinity races carries special significance to the Hendrick Motorsports family as it was the number that the late Ricky Hendrick drove over two seasons in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series from 2000 to 2001. The paint scheme is based on the truck he drove those seasons, including in his win at Kansas Speedway.
Tune in on Saturday to watch Byron and Larson compete at Watkins Glen at 3 p.m. ET with coverage on USA Network, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).