Byron earns pole for Cup cutoff race at Martinsville
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Needing a win to get above the playoff cutline, William Byron will start there in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway.
Byron earned the pole for the final race before the playoff field is cut from eight drivers to four in next Sunday’s championship race at Phoenix Raceway.
Ty Gibbs will share the front row with Byron.
TOP 10 STARTERS: William Byron, Ty Gibbs, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Cole Custer, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric
Playoff driver Christopher Bell qualified 12th.
Only Ryan Blaney didn’t qualify in the top 12. Blaney qualified 31st.
However, a bad start doesn’t always mean a bad finish for him. Blaney has the worst average start at Martinsville of any of the playoff drivers but is tied for the most wins.
The NASCAR Cup Series’ Xfinity 500 cutoff race goes green just after 2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com