FORT WORTH, Tex. – Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Kyle Larson will line up alongside each other in row two for Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway. Byron will start third and Larson will line up fourth following the results of qualifying.
There was a twist in all-star qualifying. The opening round was the traditional single-car, one-lap format with the fastest eight transferring on to a three-round, head-to-head elimination bracket. The elimination bracket portion saw two cars staged in an area near the end of pit road. At the sound of an alert, the drivers drove into their pit box and each pit crew for the qualifying car executed a four-tire pit stop. At the drop of the jack, drivers exited their pit stalls with no speed limit and onto the track. The first car back to the start / finish line advanced to the next round. This head-to-head format cut the bracket down from eight cars to four to two, with the final pairing battling for the pole position.
Byron posted the fastest lap during the single-car runs in the No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. He and the No. 24 pit crew then defeated Aric Almirola in his first elimination bracket matchup. They were defeated in their second matchup by Ryan Blaney.
Larson posted the fifth-fastest lap during the single-car runs of qualifying. He and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com pit crew defeated Kurt Busch in his first elimination bracket matchup. Kyle Busch defeated Larson in the second round after the reigning Cup champion didn’t quite get going at the sound of the alert.
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Chase Elliott will line up 13th in the No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and Alex Bowman is set to start 20th in the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
Kyle Busch took the pole position for the main event.
Larson, who has won this event twice, came in second during the practice session at the 1.5-mile track. The driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 topped the 10-lap average board as well.
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As an organization, Hendrick Motorsports has won the All-Star Race a Cup-best 10 times and has scored back-to-back wins in the event with Elliott and Larson. Of those victories, the Hendrick Motorsports driver that won the all-star event has gone on to win the championship in the same season seven times.
Tune into the All-Star Race on Sunday night at 8 pm ET on FS1 and radio coverage on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.