CONCORD, N.C. – Alex Bowman and William Byron had a déjà vu experience during the qualifying session for the DAYTONA 500 Wednesday night. Bowman secured the Busch Pole Award for “The Great American Race” and Byron posted the second-fastest lap time, earning him the outside pole position.
Bowman’s lap time was 47.056 seconds, over a quarter of a second faster than Byron’s time of 47.314 seconds. This is the second time Bowman and Byron lined up on the front row together for the 500-mile race. In 2019, Byron was the pole sitter and Bowman earned the outside pole position.
The driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE thanked crew chief Greg Ives, his pit crew and his entire team for working hard on his Ally machine.
"They work so hard on these superspeedway cars," Bowman said. "Our Ally Camaro has been really fast since we unloaded and we focused a lot on trying to get the pole for the 500. It means a lot to us."
Bowman is the first driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to start on the front row four times in a row. He captured the pole position for the 60th running of the DAYTONA in 2018 and qualified second both in 2019 and 2020.
Byron became the second-youngest DAYTONA 500 pole winner two seasons ago and lined up fourth in last year’s DAYTONA 500 after he won the second Duel.
The Hendrick Motorsports pair now can relax for the Duel races since their positions are solidified. Bowman will lead the pack in the first Duel and Byron will roll off the grid first in the second Duel. Chase Elliott finished 12th, which puts him in the second Duel with Byron. Kyle Larson posted the 15th-best time and will race with Bowman in the first Duel.
The Duel races will be Thursday at 7 p.m. on FS1 to determine the rest of the lineup for the DAYTONA 500. Bowman will have until Sunday to enjoy his second time as the pole sitter at “The World Center of Racing.” The race will start at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.