William Byron conquista pole position para Daytona 500

A primeira pole position da carreira de William Byron veio logo na maior corrida da NASCAR, as 500 Milhas de Daytona, que também coincide com a primeira prova em que terá como chefe de equipe, Chad Knaus, que conquistou sete títulos da categoria com Jimmie Johnson.

O piloto de 21 anos liderou o domínio da Hendrick Motorsports que teve Alex Bowman na segunda posição, seguido de Jimmie Johnson e Chase Elliott. Mas apenas Byron e Bowman garantiram essas posições, já que a ordem de largada será definida nos duels na próxima quinta-feira.

“Sentimos que estávamos preparados e prontos e isso foi uma espécie de primeiro passo do nosso processo juntos”, disse Byron sobre trabalhar com Knaus. “Espero que tudo corra bem no próximo domingo. Podemos aprender um pouco mais nos duels.”

"É incrivel."

A pole de Byron é a quinta pole consecutiva da Hendrick, sendo o oitavo diferente da equipe a conseguir tal feito.

Confira a tabela de tempos

Cla	#	Piloto	Carro	Voltas	Tempo	Dif	Intervalo	Mph
1	24	William Byron	Chevrolet	1	46.319			194.305
2	88	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	1	46.355	0.036	0.036	194.154
3	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	1	46.438	0.119	0.083	193.807
4	9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	1	46.444	0.125	0.006	193.782
5	8	Daniel Hemric	Chevrolet	1	46.763	0.444	0.319	192.460
6	22	Joey Logano	Ford	1	46.766	0.447	0.003	192.448
7	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	1	46.789	0.470	0.023	192.353
8	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	1	46.804	0.485	0.015	192.291
9	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	1	46.811	0.492	0.007	192.263
10	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	1	47.018	0.699	0.207	191.416
11	21	Paul Menard	Ford	1	47.094	0.775	0.076	191.107
12	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	1	47.246	0.927	0.152	190.492

Round 1

HMS led the way in the first round as it four drivers posted the top four speeds in the first round, led by Bowman (193.932 mph).

Byron ended up second (193.831 mph), Elliott was third (193.831 mph) and Johnson fourth (192.930 mph). Reigning series champion Joey Logano completed the top-five.

Also advancing to the final round were Keselowski, Truex, Bowyer, Hemric, Austin Dillon, Hamlin and Menard.

As two fastest cars without a charter in the first round, Tyler Reddick and Casey Mears have locked themselves into the Daytona 500 field based on speed.

“I’m really excited about what we’ve got,” said Reddick, the 2018 Xfinity Series champion. “It’s pretty crazy. A lot has happened in a year. I’m excited to get rolling.

“It feels awesome to be locked in. The (car) did everything it needed to for us to lock in. Can’t wait for the duels Thursday.”

Four drivers – Ryan Truex, Brendan Gaughan, Parker Kligerman and Joey Gase – will all have to race their way into the field but there are only two spots available for those four drivers.

During pre-qualifying inspection, the cars of Elliott, Austin Dillon and Ty Dillon all failed two times. The car chief of each team has been ejected for the remainder of Speedweeks and each team has lost 15 minutes from final practice prior to the 500.

Cla	#	Driver	4506	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	88	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	1	46.408			193.932
2	24	William Byron	Chevrolet	1	46.432	0.024	0.024	193.832
3	9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	1	46.469	0.061	0.037	193.678
4	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	1	46.649	0.241	0.180	192.930
5	22	Joey Logano	Ford	1	46.782	0.374	0.133	192.382
6	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	1	46.797	0.389	0.015	192.320
7	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	1	46.803	0.395	0.006	192.295
8	14	Clint Bowyer	Ford	1	46.857	0.449	0.054	192.074
9	8	Daniel Hemric	Chevrolet	1	46.861	0.453	0.004	192.057
10	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	1	46.938	0.530	0.077	191.742
11	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	1	47.009	0.601	0.071	191.453
12	21	Paul Menard	Ford	1	47.072	0.664	0.063	191.196
13	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	1	47.080	0.672	0.008	191.164
14	20	Erik Jones	Toyota	1	47.089	0.681	0.009	191.127
15	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	1	47.131	0.723	0.042	190.957
16	31	Tyler Reddick	Chevrolet	1	47.161	0.753	0.030	190.836
17	12	Ryan Blaney	Ford	1	47.170	0.762	0.009	190.799
18	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Ford	1	47.177	0.769	0.007	190.771
19	10	Aric Almirola	Ford	1	47.185	0.777	0.008	190.739
20	41	Daniel Suarez	Ford	1	47.195	0.787	0.010	190.698
21	1	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	1	47.222	0.814	0.027	190.589
22	37	Chris Buescher	Chevrolet	1	47.261	0.853	0.039	190.432
23	38	David Ragan	Ford	1	47.264	0.856	0.003	190.420
24	6	Ryan Newman	Ford	1	47.364	0.956	0.100	190.018
25	34	Michael McDowell	Ford	1	47.374	0.966	0.010	189.978
26	27	Casey Mears	Chevrolet	1	47.406	0.998	0.032	189.849
27	71	Ryan Truex	Chevrolet	1	47.434	1.026	0.028	189.737
28	47	Ryan Preece	Chevrolet	1	47.441	1.033	0.007	189.709
29	40	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	1	47.498	1.090	0.057	189.482
30	95	Matt DiBenedetto	Toyota	1	47.515	1.107	0.017	189.414
31	62	Brendan Gaughan	Chevrolet	1	47.520	1.112	0.005	189.394
32	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	1	47.565	1.157	0.045	189.215
33	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.	Chevrolet	1	47.571	1.163	0.006	189.191
34	13	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	1	47.691	1.283	0.120	188.715
35	36	Matt Tifft	Ford	1	47.703	1.295	0.012	188.667
36	96	Parker Kligerman	Toyota	1	47.820	1.412	0.117	188.206
37	15	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	1	47.898	1.490	0.078	187.899
38	00	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	1	48.025	1.617	0.127	187.402
39	32	Corey Lajoie	Ford	1	48.427	2.019	0.402	185.847
40	52	Cody Ware	Chevrolet	1	48.983	2.575	0.556	183.737
41	51	B.J. McLeod	Chevrolet	1	49.266	2.858	0.283	182.682
42	66	Joey Gase	Toyota	1	49.743	3.335	0.477	180.930