NASCAR Cup Series at COTA starting lineup: William Byron wins road course pole for a fourth time

Byron becomes the first Cup driver to win a pole at four different road courses

By Steven Taranto

Mar 25, 2023 at 1:55 pm ET • 1 min read

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William Byron continued his fast start to the 2023 season by winning the pole for the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in qualifying on Saturday. Byron prevailed over Tyler Reddick in the final round of qualifying with a lap of 130.760 seconds (93.882 MPH) to win his first pole of the season and the ninth of his career.

With his pole, Byron becomes the first Cup Series driver to ever win a pole on four different road courses. In addition to his COTA pole, Byron has also won poles at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, Road America, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.

The surprise of qualifying was the performance of IMSA road racer Jordan Taylor, who is making his Cup debut this weekend as the substitute driver for the injured Chase Elliott. Taylor made the final round of qualifying in his first NASCAR action, and he proceeded to earn a top five starting spot in fourth.

Also making his NASCAR debut is 2009 Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button, who qualified 24th in the Rick Ware Racing No. 15. Button will start just behind fellow F1 champion Kimi Raikkonen, who qualified 22nd for his second career Cup start in the Trackhouse Racing Project 91 car.

Two other notable drivers start outside the top 30, as Jimmie Johnson qualified 31st for the second race of his partial schedule for 2023. He will be joined towards the rear of the field by IndyCar driver Conor Daly, who qualified 35th.