Tyler Reddick might have broken the track record in qualifying, but William Byron outran his Toyota on Saturday (March 25), winning his fourth career pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas.
Byron improved from his round one time, running a 93.882-mph lap to beat Reddick for the pole after the California native broke the track record in group two qualifying by over two seconds. Austin Cindric, the only Ford in the final round, qualified third. Jordan Taylor, filling in for Chase Elliott, qualified fourth and Daniel Suarez fifth, even though Suarez lost a lap due to a cutting-the-course penalty in the final round.
Alex Bowman qualified sixth, followed by Xfinity Series pole winner AJ Allmendinger in seventh. Erik Jones, Kyle Busch and Noah Gragson rounded out the top 10. Bowman also had a lap disallowed after cutting the course.
Jones lead the field in group one qualifying, while Reddick broke the track record in group two qualifying with a speed of 94.210 mph.
In group one qualifying, Aric Almirola‘s car went off track in turn 1 without hitting anything; he qualified 39th. In round two, Michael McDowell made slight contact with the barrier early in the session, and qualified 20th
Watch the NASCAR Cup Series from Circuit of the Americas on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
2023 COTA CUP SERIES QUALIFYING SPEEDS
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