William Byron earns Martinsville NASCAR Cup pole by just 0.002s

Facing a must-win situation, William Byron earned a critical pole position at Martinsville Speedway. The Hendrick Motorsports driver lapped the half-mile short track in 19.286s, beating Ty Gibbs by just fractions — 0.002s — for pole.

This is Byron's 16th career pole and his third of the 2025 season, but the two-time Martinsville winner has never started on the front row for this race.

"It's great, but it's not the race though," said Byron. "So, we got a lot of work to do tomorrow. It felt good in practice. It felt decent there in qualifying. It's just so cold. It took a while for the tires to kind of come in. It feels nice -- first pole at Martinsville. We usually struggle to qualify well here. Just excited for tomorrow. It's a big challenge, and that's what counts. After 500 laps, we'll see how we are."

On what he expects for the race on Sunday, Byron added: "It's going to be similar conditions to what it is right now. It's going to be chilly. The track is going to change a bunch. We got to do a good job of communicating, talking through it and making the right adjustments."

Kyle Larson, who currently holds the fourth and final transfer spot, qualified third. Joey Logano was fourth, and Denny Hamlin fifth.

Cole Custer, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Chase Briscoe, and Austin Cindric filled out the remainder of the top ten.

Christopher Bell qualified 12th, but he wasn't the worst of the eight playoff drivers. Surprisingly, Ryan Blaney will start very deep in the field in 31st. The Team Penske driver has won the last two fall races at Martinsville.

There were no incidents during the session, and all 37 entries put down a qualifying time.

All Stats

Driver

Manufacturer

Laps

Time

Interval

W. Byron Hendrick Motorsports

Chevrolet

19.286

98.185

T. Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing

Toyota

+0.002

19.288

0.002

98.175

K. Larson Hendrick Motorsports

Chevrolet

+0.029

19.315

0.027

98.038

J. Logano Team Penske

Ford

+0.036

19.322

0.007

98.002

D. Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing

Toyota

+0.061

19.347

0.025

97.876

C. Custer Haas Factory Team

Ford

+0.062

19.348

0.001

97.871

K. Busch Richard Childress Racing

Chevrolet

+0.066

19.352

0.004

97.850

C. Elliott Hendrick Motorsports

Chevrolet

+0.067

19.353

0.001

97.845

C. Briscoe Joe Gibbs Racing

Toyota

+0.090

19.376

0.023

97.729

A. Cindric Team Penske

Ford

+0.107

19.393

0.017

97.643

M. McDowell Spire Motorsports

Chevrolet

+0.113

19.399

0.006

97.613

C. Bell Joe Gibbs Racing

Toyota

+0.115

19.401

0.002

97.603

R. Chastain TrackHouse Racing

Chevrolet

+0.122

19.408

0.007

97.568

T. Reddick 23XI Racing

Toyota

+0.125

19.411

0.003

97.553

C. Hocevar Spire Motorsports

Chevrolet

+0.131

19.417

0.006

97.523

T. Gilliland Front Row Motorsports

Ford

+0.147

19.433

0.016

97.442

A. Bowman Hendrick Motorsports

Chevrolet

+0.151

19.437

0.004

97.422

R. Preece RFK Racing

Ford

+0.152

19.438

0.001

97.417

B. Keselowski RFK Racing

Ford

+0.167

19.453

0.015

97.342

A. Dillon Richard Childress Racing

Chevrolet

+0.169

19.455

0.002

97.332

B. Wallace 23XI Racing

Toyota

+0.173

19.459

0.004

97.312

S. van Gisbergen TrackHouse Racing

Chevrolet

+0.176

19.462

0.003

97.297

Z. Smith Front Row Motorsports

Ford

+0.219

19.505

0.043

97.083

J. Nemechek Legacy Motor Club

Toyota

+0.225

19.511

0.006

97.053

R. Herbst 23XI Racing

Toyota

+0.234

19.520

0.009

97.008

T. Dillon Kaulig Racing

Chevrolet

+0.240

19.526

0.006

96.978

E. Jones Legacy Motor Club

Toyota

+0.244

19.530

0.004

96.959

J. Berry Wood Brothers Racing

Ford

+0.244

19.530

0.000

96.959

C. Buescher RFK Racing

Ford

+0.273

19.559

0.029

96.815

D. Suarez TrackHouse Racing

Chevrolet

+0.274

19.560

0.001

96.810

R. Blaney Team Penske

Ford

+0.320

19.606

0.046

96.583

R. Stenhouse Jr Hyak Motorsports

Chevrolet

+0.343

19.629

0.023

96.470

A. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing

Chevrolet

+0.362

19.648

0.019

96.376

J. Haley Spire Motorsports

Chevrolet

+0.384

19.670

0.022

96.268

N. Gragson Front Row Motorsports

Ford

+0.418

19.704

0.034

96.102

C. Ware Rick Ware Racing

Ford

+0.546

19.832

0.128

95.482

C. Mears Garage 66

Ford

+0.609

19.895

0.063

95.180

View full results

Read Also:

Formula 1F1 Mexico GP: Lando Norris seizes key pole as Oscar Piastri falters

NASCAR TruckCorey Heim vs the Trucks world set up after Martinsville

NASCAR CupNASCAR Cup playoff standings ahead of Martinsville elimination race

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team