Photo: Logan Riely/Getty Images via NASCAR

Ty Gibbs Scores First Career NASCAR Cup Pole in Coca-Cola 600 Qualifying

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

CONCORD, N.C. – Ty Gibbs saved the strongest performance of the day for the money lap in time trials for the Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 (6 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Streaking around 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway in the final round of Saturday’s qualifying session for NASCAR’s longest race, Gibbs covered the distance in 29.355 seconds (183.955 mph) to claim the first Busch Light Pole Award of his career.

Gibbs edged William Byron (183.580 mph) by 0.060 seconds to become the second youngest Coca-Cola 600 pole winner at 21 years old. Byron was roughly a month younger than Gibbs is now when he won the pole for the Memorial Day weekend race at age 21 in 2019.

“I’m really excited for it,” said Gibbs who a day earlier won the pole for Saturday’s BetMGM 300 NASCAR Xfinity Series race. “And hopefully I can go out there and get my first win tomorrow.

“It really helps to start up front in clean air — it’s really nice. And having that first pit stall as well is great also.”

Two of Gibbs’ Joe Gibbs Racing teammates qualified third and fourth, respectively, behind Byron — Christopher Bell (183.461 mph) and Martin Truex Jr. (182.871 mph). Truex had the fastest lap in the opening round at 182.902 mph but couldn’t improve in the second round.

Gibbs, on the other hand, cut 0.266 seconds off his first-round time when the pole was at stake.

Byron had three teammates in the top 10 — Chase Elliott (fifth fastest), Alex Bowman (sixth) and Kyle Larson (10th). Larson planned to leave for Indianapolis after Charlotte time trials in anticipation of running the Indianapolis 500/Coca-Cola 600 double.

Larson was fifth fastest in Indy 500 qualifying last Sunday.

Ross Chastain was seventh fastest in Coke 600 qualifying, followed by Tyler Reddick, Michael McDowell (the only Ford to make the final round) and Larson.

Reddick, however, will not start in the spot he earned. His 23XI Racing team made unapproved adjustments to the underwing of the No. 45 Toyota after passing pre-race inspection.

NASCAR penalized the team with the ejection of car chief Michael Hobson, loss of pit selection and a pass-through penalty after starting from the rear of the field on Sunday.

Reddick still had to qualify so as not to have a tire advantage in the race. All cars must start the event on their scuffed qualifying tires.

Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway Starting Lineup

PosVehicleDriverTeamTimeSpeed
154Ty GibbsMonster Energy/Interstate Batteries Toyota29.355183.955
224William ByronLiberty University Patriotic Chevrolet29.415183.58
320Christopher BellRheem Toyota29.434183.461
419Martin Truex Jr.Bass Pro Shops Toyota29.529182.871
59Chase ElliottNAPA Patriotic Chevrolet29.556182.704
648Alex BowmanAlly Patriotic Chevrolet29.569182.624
71Ross ChastainJockey x Folds of Honor Chevrolet29.624182.285
845Tyler ReddickThe Beast Unleashed Toyota29.648182.137
934Michael McDowellWalmart/RTIC Ford29.689181.886
105Kyle LarsonHendrickCars.com H1100 Chevrolet29.719181.702
1111Denny HamlinMavis Tire Toyota29.746181.537
1223Bubba WallaceMoneyLion Toyota29.861180.838
134Josh Berry #Overstock.com Ford29.749181.519
1499Daniel SuarezFreeway Insurance Chevrolet29.872180.771
158Kyle Buschzone Chevrolet29.756181.476
1612Ryan BlaneyBodyArmor Flash I.V. Ford29.912180.53
172Austin CindricMenards/Duracell Ford29.831181.02
1814Chase BriscoeMahindra Compact Tractors Ford29.987180.078
1910Noah GragsonBass Pro Shops Winchester Ford29.877180.741
2077Carson Hocevar #Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet30.024179.856
217Corey LaJoieChili’s Catch-a-Rita Chevrolet29.885180.693
2251Justin HaleyThe Cleaning Authority Ford30.034179.796
2347Ricky Stenhouse Jr.Kroger/Irish Spring Chevrolet29.902180.59
2431Daniel HemricCirkul Chevrolet30.042179.748
2571Zane Smith #Focused Health Chevrolet29.928180.433
2642John Hunter NemechekDollar Tree Toyota30.058179.653
273Austin DillonBass Pro Shops Chevrolet29.96180.24
2822Joey LoganoShell Pennzoil Ford30.101179.396
2984Jimmie JohnsonAdventHealth Toyota30.048179.712
306Brad KeselowskiBuildSubmarines.com Ford30.126179.247
3141Ryan PreeceHaasTooling.com Ford30.127179.241
3221Harrison BurtonDEX Imaging Ford30.175178.956
3315Kaz Grala #N29 Ford30.176178.95
3443Erik JonesFamily Dollar Toyota30.295178.247
3538Todd GillilandQuincy Compressor Ford30.374177.784
3616Shane Van Gisbergen(i)WeatherTech Chevrolet30.473177.206
3766BJ McLeod(i)Truan Equipment Ford30.484177.142
3850Ty Dillon(i)AmeriVet Securities Chevrolet30.624176.332
3917Chris BuescherFastenal Ford00
4044JJ Yeley(i)Beard Vet Coffee Chevrolet00

Tags : , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

With coverage extending from ARCA, NASCAR, IndyCar, and Formula 1, Motorsports Tribune is one of the premier outlets for racing news in the United States. We are a team of the hardest-working and most trusted names in the industry that are all about honoring the past, present, and future of auto racing.