William Byron qualified on the pole for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Road America. (HHP/Andrew Coppley Photo)
William Byron. (HHP/Andrew Coppley Photo)

Byron Captures Pole For Cup’s Road America Return

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – William Byron will lead the NASCAR Cup Series field to the green flag when the series returns to Road America for the first time in 65 years Sunday afternoon.

Byron scored the pole for the Jockey Made In America 250 Sunday morning at the 4.048-mile road course, narrowly defeating his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson. Byron led the way with a 2:12.049 lap, while Larson qualified second at 2:12.233.

LINEUP: Jockey Made In America 250

“We struggled a little bit off the truck but we had some good changes in mind and the Liberty University Chevy was really fast in qualifying,” Byron said. “It was fast in race trim the last run. I feel like we just kind of went back to the basics on the road courses. We’ve struggled this year on the road courses and kind of got back to a basic setup and put it all together today.

A.J. Allmendinger, making his third NASCAR Cup Series start of the season for Kaulig Racing, qualified third. Tyler Reddick, who spun shortly after completing his qualifying run in the second round, will join him in the second row.

Reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Austin Cindric will line up fifth in a fourth car for Team Penske, followed by Denny Hamlin in sixth. Matt DiBenedetto, Ross Chastain, Martin Truex Jr. and Alex Bowman completed the top-10 in qualifying.

Several drivers failed to put together fast laps in the first round of qualifying when Bubba Wallace’s car stalled on track with roughly two minutes left in the session. Among them were Chase Elliott, who will start Sunday’s race deep in the field from 34th.