William Byron had the car to beat Saturday at Circuit of The Americas. He topped the NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a lap of 130.76 seconds at 93.882 mph to earn the Busch Light Pole Award at the 20-turn, 3.41-mile track.
Hendrick Motorsports and Kaulig Racing were sanctioned L2-level penalties for unapproved modifications pertaining to the hood louvers from their respective vehicles.
The 2021 Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, is set to achieve a milestone start in his ninth full-time season as a competitor in NASCAR's premier series.
The 25-year-old Byron from Charlotte, North Carolina, led 64 of 317 over-scheduled laps and prevailed in two late-race restarts, including one in overtime, to fend off teammate Kyle Larson and nab second consecutive Cup victory in the desert valley.
NASCAR 2020 Cup Series champion Chase Elliott will miss an indefinite number of races after undergoing surgery Friday night to repair a fractured tibia. The injury occurred while Elliott was snowboarding in Colorado.
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports, will not compete in this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway due to a leg injury.
