William Byron is in great position to stick around for the second round of the playoffs after he won his fifth pole of the year and will start first at the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday.
This is Byron's fifth pole in 65 career starts, and sitting in 12th in the Cup Standings, the 21-year-old has a great shot to punch his ticket to the next round in his second season.
Retweet to congratulate @WilliamByron on earning the #BuschPole for Sunday's race at @CLTMotorSpdwy!#NASCARPlayoffs | @TeamHendrick pic.twitter.com/ZPrHsGm38S
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 27, 2019
"I knew we could qualify top 5, but I was really wanting a pole and really kind of went out there and got it," Byron said. "So, really proud of this Unifirst team, it's going to be great to start up front."
Clint Bowyer had some issues with his engine in qualifying, but sitting in 14th in the standings he earned a fifth-place starting position and is also in good shape heading into Sunday. Now we'll see how his car works then too.
Kurt Busch (23rd) and Erik Jones (15th) will have some work to do this weekend as they sit 15th and 16th, respectively, in the Cup Series standings in the final race of the first round of NASCAR's playoffs.
NASCAR at Charlotte starting lineup, qualifying results
| Starting | Driver | Number |
| No. 1 | William Byron | 24 |
| No. 2 | Alex Bowman | 88 |
| No. 3 | Joey Logano | 22 |
| No. 4 | Jimmie Johnson | 48 |
| No. 5 | Clint Bowyer | 14 |
| No. 6 | Kevin Harvick | 4 |
| No. 7 | Kyle Larson | 42 |
| No. 8 | Martin Truex Jr. | 19 |
| No. 9 | Ryan Blaney | 12 |
| No. 10 | Paul Menard | 21 |
| No. 11 | Brad Keselowski | 2 |
| No. 12 | Chris Buescher | 37 |
| No. 13 | Daniel Suarez | 41 |
| No. 14 | Ryan Preece | 47 |
| No. 15 | Erik Jones | 20 |
| No. 16 | Aric Almirola | 10 |
| No. 17 | Kyle Busch | 18 |
| No. 18 | Matt DiBenedetto | 95 |
| No. 19 | Chase Elliott | 9 |
| No. 20 | Daniel Hemric | 8 |
| No. 21 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 17 |
| No. 22 | Michael McDowell | 34 |
| No. 23 | Kurt Busch | 1 |
| No. 24 | Ryan Newman | 6 |
| No. 25 | Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr. | 43 |
| No. 26 | Corey Lajoie | 32 |
| No. 27 | David Ragan | 38 |
| No. 28 | Denny Hamlin | 11 |
| No. 29 | Ty Dillon | 13 |
| No. 30 | Austin Dillon | 3 |
| No. 31 | Cody Ware | 51 |
| No. 32 | Landon Cassill | 00 |
| No. 33 | Timmy Hill | 66 |
| No. 34 | Josh Bilicki | 53 |
| No. 35 | Garrett Smithley | 52 |
| No. 36 | Matt Tifft | 36 |
| No. 37 | Ross Chastain | 15 |
| No. 38 | Reed Sorenson | 77 |
| No. 39 | Joe Nemechek | 27 |
| No. 40 | Parker Kligerman | 96 |
What time does the Bank of America ROVAL 400 start?
The Bank of America ROVAL 400 will take place Sunday, Sept. 29. Live coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. ET.
What channel is the Bank of America ROVAL 400 on?
The Bank of America ROVAL 400 will be broadcast nationally on NBC. The race also can be livestreamed on the NBC Sports App or by subscribing to fuboTV, which offers a seven-day free trial.
Bank of America ROVAL 400 schedule, how to watch
Here's a daily schedule of events leading up to the Bank of America ROVAL 400:
(All times Eastern)
Saturday, Sept. 28
| 11:05 a.m. | Cup Series second practice | NBC Sports App |
| 12:10 p.m. | Xfinity Series qualifying | NBCSN/NBC Sports App/ |
| 2 p.m. | Cup Series final practice | NBCSN/NBC Sports App/PRN |
| 3:30 p.m. | Xfinity Series Drive for the Cure 250 | NBCSN/NBC Sports App |
Sunday, Sept. 29
| 2:30 p.m. | Cup Series Bank of America ROVAL 400 | NBC/NBC Sports App/PRN |