NASCAR Cup COTA: Byron earns pole, Raikkonen and Button mid-pack

Raikkonen and Button, the F1 world champions of 2007 and 2009, will start 22nd and 24th respectively for the first NASCAR road course of the season, while sportscar racer Jordan Taylor starred on his first outing subbing for the injured Chase Elliott at Hendrick Motorsports by setting the fourth-quickest time.   

23XI Racing Toyota driver Tyler Reddick had topped Group B qualifying in the first round on Saturday with a track record lap of 2m10.305s, but wasn’t able to repeat the performance in the final round as Hendrick Chevrolet driver Byron earned his first pole of the 2023 season with a 2m10.760s lap.

Reddick ended up 0.138s in arrears with the second fastest time, a 2m10.898s, while former sportscar racer Austin Cindric (Penske Ford) showcased his road racing ability with third - albeit 0.592s slower than Byron.

Corvette Racing's IMSA SportsCar Championship ace Taylor shone on his NASCAR debut to make it two Hendrick cars in the top four, as Raikkonen's Trackhouse Racing team-mate Daniel Suarez pipped the third Hendrick Chevrolet of Alex Bowman - the latter pair both having their best laps disallowed for violating track limits.

“I don’t know, I was just watching Reddick go out there and set the pace,” Byron said when asked how he gained so much time between the first and second rounds.

“He’s been so fast all weekend. Just trying to continue to inch up on him.

“We made big improvements with the car overnight. I thought that practice session [on Friday] helped us to get a little bit better and get the back of the car settled down.

Jordan Taylor, Hendrick Motorsports, UniFirst Chevrolet Camaro

Photo by: Jared East / NKP / Motorsport Images

“It’s really fun to get the first pole of the year. Obviously, we’ve been on a good stretch here of late.

“Tomorrow’s what pays so we just got to be there at the end.”

Raikkonen, making his return to NASCAR after an exploratory foray at Watkins Glen last year, was 12th fastest in the Group B session in his Trackhouse Chevrolet with a time 2.221s down on Reddick's fastest effort of the weekend so far. 

That means he'll start two spots ahead of Button, who was just 0.881s down on Erik Jones in a tight Group A session.

Cup debut "surreal" for Taylor

Reflecting on his first experience in Cup, 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours class winner Taylor admitted he "felt like I was out of control 90 percent of the time" during practice, but said he "understood what the car was doing" a lot better in qualifying.

Taylor is a familiar face among Chevrolet NASCAR as he has worked with several drivers on their road racing craft. He has also been working with NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports on the development of its Garage 56 entry for this year's Le Mans, in which Button will be among its drivers.

However, Taylor had never been presented the opportunity to compete in NASCAR until Hendrick vice chairman and series legend Jeff Gordon approached him with driving for Elliott in road course events during his recovery.

"It was surreal, and honestly felt surreal until getting to the track here and getting into the car in practice," he said.

"I was shaking the whole time until we actually got to driving. It’s definitely an intense experience.

“Obviously, it’s all rushed and last minute, but the guys have done an amazing job prepping me and getting me as prepared as possible.

"Getting speed out of the car and myself is one thing, I think the race tomorrow will be a whole different animal."