William Byron holds the Busch Light Pole Award for his speedy accomplishment ahead of Sunday’s Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway. (Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)
AVONDALE, Ariz. — William Byron is ready to duel in the desert against 36 of the toughest in NASCAR at the one-mile dogleg oval from the pole position at Phoenix Raceway for Sunday afternoon’s race.
Byron was able to put together a thrilling lap during Saturday’s qualifying session, as he was the only drive to break the 27-second mark with a lap time of 26.930, which is equivalent to a speed of 133.680 mph, besting Joey Logano for the top spot.
William Byron rocketed to the pole in Saturday’s qualifying session for the Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway. (Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)
Byron is off to a hot start to begin his 2025 campaign, claiming his second consectutive DAYTONA 500 victory in February, followed up by a runner-up finish in last week’s Echopark Texas Grand Prix at Circuit Of The Americas. Byron currently leads the way in the NASCAR Cup Series standings heading into the desert, leading by two points over Ryan Blaney.
Regarding statistics at Phoenix Raceway, the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports has been one of the strongest Cup Series drivers. Byron, in 14 career starts at the one-mile facility, has one victory, coming in the 2023 spring race, two pole positions, 3 top 5s and 8 top 10s to go along with a total of 205 laps led and an average finish of 11.1.
“Honestly, I thought the tire was great.” Said Byron in a post qualifying interview after being asked about how the option tires had played a huge role during Saturday’s practice and qualifying session.
“I think it fell off some with heat and just kind of starting to slide around. But I felt like the tire felt good as soon as we bolted it on. Obviously, more grip to fire off, so more pace on the short run. And then, you know, honestly, the progression throughout the run was exactly what you would want to see. So, I just had more grip, and then I felt personally like our car was pretty good on that tire.”
The native of Charlotte, North Carolina understands that strategy will play a crucial role during longer green-flag runs, especially with the two different tire options that can significantly impact the race for all 37 Cup Series competitors on Sunday afternoon.
“I think that we have a general sense of kind of when we would put on the reds, but you have to have, you know, some of those in reserve for the end. So, yeah, I just know that there’s probably going to be some varying strategies because the guys in the back of the field will be able to do something different. So, I anticipate everyone kind of being on different stuff, but probably your top-10 guys will be on the same.”
Several drivers, including Byron, expressed their desire for NASCAR and Goodyear, the official tire provider for the series, to provide more than two tire options at Phoenix Raceway to enhance strategic opportunities for drivers and teams.
“Yeah, like I think that’s my consensus on the strategy is it’s going to be pretty straight forward because there’s only two sets. So, I personally would like to see us just go to the red and eliminate the yellow, and then just have red tires because I feel like they fall off more and you’ll see more like what you had at Martinsville in the fall. So, yeah, I don’t really love the fact that we’re alternating, but I mean it’s going to create an interesting race for sure.”
Last week’s Cup Series race at Circuit Of The Americas played a huge role in respect in NASCAR and how last week’s finish was a win for the sport with the four drivers, including Byron racing door-to-door, but cleanly with each other.
“It all depends on who you’re racing, you know, and that’s what people ask me throughout the week like — oh, what’s going through your head and all this stuff. And it’s like, me and (Christopher) Bell have always raced really well. I have a lot of respect for he and Adam and their team and what they do. I think that when you’re racing the same guys every week, you learn kind of their tendencies and you always have a memory of what happens on the racetrack.”
“So I think it is very situational, but I think that there needs to be a greater level of respect in general throughout the field. And still race hard because this car requires you to race hard and there is contact. So, yeah so to me, it’s all about who you’re racing.”
Byron looks to strike gold on Sunday afternoon at Phoenix Raceway for the running of the Shriners Children’s 500 and pick up his second Phoenix win in just his 15th career start at the venue.
