William Byron notches Phoenix pole, Shriners Children’s 500 lineup

Daytona 500 winner William Byron climbed out of his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on Phoenix Raceway pit road with a huge smile after claiming his first pole position in nearly a year — the last car to turn a qualifying lap.

The 27-year-old North Carolinian conceded he wasn’t expecting his chart-topping lap of 133.680 mph but is ready to seize the strong start for Sunday’s Shriners Children’s 500 (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“I did not hit my marks, I was sideways and carried a ton of entry speed, missed the middle of the corner, and coming off the dogleg I was so loose,’’ Byron said of his fast lap on the one-mile Phoenix oval, the 14th pole of his career. “I was just going to try to commit to the exits and see how much I could get out, even though I missed the center [of the turn].

“Just a fast car,’’ said Byron, who leads the NASCAR Cup Series championship and has two top-two finishes in the season’s first three races. “Thanks to my whole team. They’ve been bringing fast cars, and we’ve been doing a really good job of executing. So definitely want to go out there and have a great day tomorrow.’’

Team Penske’s Joey Logano will start alongside Byron, marking his third front-row start in four races this year. The three-time and reigning series champion turned a lap of 133.195 mph in his No. 22 Ford Mustang in Saturday’s single-round NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session.

“I don’t like William Byron anymore,’’ Logano said with a laugh. “Man, that stinks. I just got through telling [crew chief] Paul [Wolfe] that it would really suck if the last car beat us.

“That was going to be Penske’s 700th pole across all motorsports, so we’ll have to go try and do that next week. But overall, proud of the effort.’’

Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar will start his No. 77 Chevrolet third, leading an impressive weekend for the Spire team. For the first time ever, all three of its cars will start among the top eight on the grid. Michael McDowell (No. 71) and Justin Haley (No. 7) will start seventh and eighth, respectively.

Wood Brothers Racing’s Josh Berry was fourth quickest in the No. 21 Ford, followed by Legacy Motor Club’s Erik Jones in the No. 43 Toyota.

Defending Phoenix spring race winner Christopher Bell, who brings a two-race winning streak into Phoenix, was 11th quickest Saturday afternoon.

Katherine Legge, making her NASCAR Cup Series debut this weekend, qualified last among the 37 cars. However, she improved her practice speed in the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet by more than 2 mph in qualifying — a strong sign of progress for the sports car and open-wheel driver.

Logano, who won the last NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix in November, is the last driver to win a race from the pole at the desert one-miler, claiming that win in fall 2022. Hendrick Motorsports drivers Kyle Larson (2021) and Chase Elliott (2020) are the only other active drivers with a Phoenix victory from the pole.

Hocevar was not only quick in qualifying but also fastest in Saturday afternoon’s practice using Goodyear’s “option” tires. His Spire Motorsports Chevrolet teammate McDowell was second-fastest, with 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick (Toyota), Team Penske’s Austin Cindric (Ford), and Roush Fenway Keselowski’s Chris Buescher (Ford) rounding out the top five.

Teams tested the option tire in the 45-minute practice session to evaluate its impact in race trim. Race conditions are expected to differ, with temperatures forecasted to be at least 10 degrees warmer. Every team will have two sets of the option tire and six of the Goodyear primary sets.

“I don’t know, but it’s definitely a much faster tire and pretty strong as well,’’ Larson said of running practice laps on the option tire. “It’s going to be interesting.’’

NOTES:

Legge makes history: Legge will become only the eighth woman to start a NASCAR Cup Series race in the sport’s modern era (post-1972) and the first since Danica Patrick competed in the 2018 Daytona 500. The 44-year-old is driving the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Chevrolet, owned by B.J. McLeod and his wife, Jessica. Legge has four IMSA class wins and has started four Indianapolis 500s. She has made five career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts, with a best finish of 14th at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, in 2018.

Cindric penalized: NASCAR issued a major penalty to Team Penske’s Austin Cindric for intentional contact with Kaulig Racing’s Ty Dillon early in last week’s race at Circuit of the Americas. The penalty includes a loss of 50 driver points and a $50,000 fine, dropping Cindric from 11th to 35th in the standings entering Sunday’s race.

Briscoe’s penalty overturned: NASCAR’s Appeals Panel overturned a 100-point penalty issued to Chase Briscoe, reinstating his points and placing him 14th in the standings, tied with Carson Hocevar.

Bell eyes three-peat: Defending Phoenix spring race winner Christopher Bell is attempting to become the first driver to win three consecutive races in the NextGen car era. Eleven times in modern NASCAR history, a driver winning three straight has gone on to win the championship the same year.

Tire strategy at play: NASCAR is allowing teams to choose between Goodyear’s primary “yellow” tire, designed for longevity, and the grippier but faster-wearing “red” option tire. Teams will receive six sets of primary tires and two sets of option tires.

Logano returns to championship site: Logano, a four-time Phoenix Raceway winner, acknowledged the special memories of his title-winning performance last fall but said he’s focused on moving forward.

“Lots of good memories here. It is cool being back for sure,’’ Logano said. “Even going out there earlier and seeing the [track] wall with the sticker on it, because we won this thing last time. It’s a lot of special moments, but I’ve been saying it’s in the past, right? You gotta keep moving forward.”

Logano has led the most laps this season (126) but has yet to record a top-10 finish through three races. He sits 12th in the standings, primarily due to stage points earned.

Phoenix Raceway Cup Series Starting Lineup

Qualifying: March 8, 2025; Race to start: March 9, 2025