William Byron leads Hendrick Motorsports' sweep of qualifying for Daytona 500
Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Hendrick Motorsports made a statement in qualifying for the Daytona 500 with all four drivers sweeping the top-four speeds.
Under the direction of his new crew chief Chad Knaus, William Byron led the charge with a lap of 194.305mph (46.319-seconds) to earn his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup pole in his 37th start.
Byron, 21, earned the fifth-consecutive pole for the Hendrick organization in Daytona 500 qualifying and the 700th Cup pole for Chevrolet.
“Yeah, it’s awesome for Chevrolet,” Byron said. “The Axalta Chevy was really fast. Credit to Chad Knaus and all the guys. It’s been a great off-season. We’re prepared. We’re ready. This is kind of the first step of our process together, so hopefully it goes well next Sunday.
“We can kind of chill out throughout the Duel races and learn a little bit. I’m looking forward to it. This is awesome.”
Last year’s polesittter Alex Bowman was second quick with a lap of 194.154mph. Jimmie Johnson (193.807mph) was third quick followed by Chase Elliott (193.782mph), rookie Daniel Hemric, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Brad Keselowski and defending race winner Austin Dillon.
Bowman credited his team for preparing a stout car. He’s looking forward to gaining more seat time running Sunday afternoon’s Clash.
“You know a driver can’t really do much,” Bowman said. “It’s all car and crew, so very proud of these guys, the Hendrick engine shop and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. They do a great job. It’s neat. Really cool to have a fast race car down here.
“I'm definitely more confident going into this year. This car has got more handling built into it I feel like. I feel like it's just going to drive better and I'll be able to be more aggressive, and we're still obviously really fast. I'm just ready to go, and like I said, I'm going to do my best to learn what I can throughout the week with the Clash and the Duel, but I'm really confident going into the 500.”
Team owner Rick Hendrick has accumulated 13 Daytona 500 poles between eight drivers—Ken Schrader, Jeff Gordon, Johnson, Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Elliott, Bowman and Byron. HMS has 22 poles overall at the 2.5-mile track.
“You work all these years coming down here and you want all the cars to run well,” Hendrick said. “And if you have one up front and a couple in the back, in the middle; but this is a tribute to our organization, the engine shop, the chassis, body shop, and the teams, to come down here and run with four cars running that good. So, I can’t believe it.
“Congratulations to Chevy for their 700th pole and our fifth in a row down here. I’m so happy for William and for all our guys, for Alex on the outside and Axalta and all the sponsors. This is Ally’s first race. So, we’re just pumped. It’s a good way to start the year.”
Knaus reflected on his first pole as a crew chief when he won with Johnson in 2002. His former driver congratulated him after Byron accomplished the feat.
“He said, ‘You got me my first pole and you got William his first pole,” Knaus said. “That’s pretty cool.’ Yeah, man, that’s pretty fantastic. I couldn’t be more proud of everybody on the No. 24 team; and honestly, everybody at Hendrick Motorsports.
“A lot of effort went into all four of those cars. So, to come down here and qualify on the pole with these guys, a new team, a new driver; representing Axalta and the No. 24 car has been a lot of fun.”
Tyler Reddick and Casey Mears, both driving Chevrolets, locked into the Great American race on time. They qualified 16th and 26th, respectively.
Hemric, who qualified fifth, described the opportunity to race in his first Daytona 500 as a dream come true.
“Oh my gosh I’m incredibly proud of all of the No. 8 team, everybody on this Bass Pro Shops/Caterpillar Camaro ZL1 for picking up the speed we picked up,” Hemric said. “I didn’t know what we had for speed based off yesterday and we exceeded what my expectations were. Proud of these guys, so cool to have the whole top five be all Chevy Camaro ZL1’s. It’s cool to be here and I’m looking forward to next week.”
Earlier on Sunday, NASCAR ejected the car chiefs for the Nos. 3, 9 and 13 teams for failing pre-race inspection after multiple attempts. Greg Ebert of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevy, Josh Kirk of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy and Billy Plourde of the No. 13 Germain Racing Chevy have been relieved of their at-track duties until the next point race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on February 24.
The drivers for those teams—Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott and Ty Dillon—will also be docked 15 minutes of practice for the Daytona 500.
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