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William Byron wins Darlington pole, full Cup Series qualifying results

JHby:Jonathan Howard•04/05/25•

Jondean25

William Byron
© Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports

Toyota had a streak of pole awards at Darlington coming into the weekend. Going into Sunday, William Byron has ended that streak. Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell did their best at the end of the NASCAR qualifying session but couldn’t catch Byron.

Darlington, the Lady in Black. We are almost ready to get to racing in South Carolina. Before the Xfinity Series takes the track for their race, the Cup Series qualified.

William Byron is on the pole, while Ryan Preece is P2 on the front row. That’s a team to watch. Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, Austin Cindric, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, and Michael McDowell make up the rest of the top-10 in qualifying.

How about that 24 car on the pole in the Jeff Gordon throwback? Those flames look awfully fast.

William Byron is going to lead not just the field but his Hendrick Motorsports teammates as well. Chase Elliott was the second quickest, P15. Kyle Larson qualified P19, with Alex Bowman rounding out the quartet in P33. Tough Sunday ahead for the 48 team.

The rest of the qualifying results are below from Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. A few interesting results.

In his Jeff Gordon throwback paint scheme, Byron has a win on his mind. He’s done it before at Darlington and he will be looking to do it again this Sunday. His teammates are going to have a tough time unless they have cars that are set up perfectly for the long run.

It feels silly to think that Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott can’t move up in the field. But P33 for Alex Bowman is just a lot to overcome. Not impossible in 400 miles, but it’s so tough.

William Byron looking for second win of the season

After winning the Daytona 500 for the second year in a row, William Byron has done really well. He doesn’t have as many wins as Christopher Bell. However, he leads the series in points and has two pole awards so far this season.

We know that Byron can win at a short track, intermediate track, road course, or superspeedway. But he has to have a car capable of doing it. The last two weeks, he really hasn’t had that winning speed.

In the Next Gen era, Byron has done very well for himself at Darlington. He has started in the top 10 in five of the seven Next Gen races at the track, including his pole today. When it comes to finishes, he has an average finish of 10.33. Throw in the fact that he’s scored stage points in every stage but one during that time as well, and he’s been fantastic at Darlington.

The only thing that concerns me is his lack of laps led. In 2023, when he won the Goodyear 400, he only led 7 laps, and that was all he needed. But he’s only led four laps in the last three races at Darlington since. He’s more than likely going to lead at least one lap on Sunday as he starts on the pole. Something to watch.