For the second straight week, a first-time NASCAR Cup Series pole winner will lead the field to the green flag.
A week after Zane Smith earned his first career Cup Series pole at Talladega, Carson Hocevar — who was fastest in Saturday’s practice session — won the pole for the Wurth 400 at Texas with a lap of 28.174 seconds.
It’s the first pole for Hocevar in his 56th Cup Series qualifying session.
Per Prime Video as relayed by The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck, Hocevar, 22, is the youngest Cup Series pole winner in the history of Texas Motor Speedway.
“It’s super impressive, what we’ve been able to do,” Hocevar told Prime Video’s Regan Smith. “Super proud of this team.”
Daytona 500 winner William Byron will join Hocevar on the front row, with Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson and Michael McDowell rounding out the top five. Ty Gibbs, Josh Berry, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace and AJ Allmendinger completed the top 10.
Other notable qualifying efforts include Christopher Bell in 16th, Ryan Blaney in 24th, Joey Logano in 27th, Chase Elliott in 29th and Ross Chastain in 31st.
Chad Finchum was the slowest of the 38 cars to take time and will start last on Sunday.
The Wurth 400 at Texas will go green shortly after 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, with coverage on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Pre-race coverage will begin at 2 p.m. ET on FS1 and 2:30 p.m. ET on PRN. Elliott is the defending winner.
