MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) — William Byron picked a good time for his first career NASCAR Cup Series pole at Martinsville Speedway, qualifying first for a race that he is treating as a must-win .

The Hendrick Motorsports driver, who is among six playoff drivers battling to claim the final two spots in the Championship 4 season finale, turned a lap of 19.286 seconds (98.185 mph) in his No. 24 Chevrolet to nip Ty Gibbs’ No. 54 Toyota by two thousandths of a second on the 0.526-mile oval.

Kyle Larson qualified third, followed by Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin as playoff drivers took four of the top five starting positions for Sunday’s 500-lap race.

Larson and Christopher Bell, who qualified 12th, both are comfortably above the points cutline and could advance to the Nov. 2 title round at Phoen

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