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KANSAS CITY, Kan. — William Byron scraped the wall in practice at Kansas Speedway, then proceed to set the fastest time in qualifying, and will be joined on the front row by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race.

Byron turned a lap of 179.206 mph on Saturday to earn his second pole of the season and the 10th of his career — all of them coming at different tracks. The trick now is to turn that first-row starting spot into a victory at Kansas, where he got his first win in the Truck Series but has never finished better than sixth in NASCAR’s top series.

“Feels great. Feels really good to get a pole,” Byron said. “I think you’re going to see a good race. I think this car races well on the mile-and-a-halfs and hopefully we’ll be able to move around and find some clean air.”

As for the damage on his No. 24 Chevrolet?

“I think it’s fine,” Byron said. “I kind of dragged the wall being a dummy the second lap of practice. It seems like the car is fine. We can kind of polish up the quarter panel just to make it look nice for Sunday.”

Larson was among the fastest in qualifying as Chevrolet power dominated the day. His lap of 179.170 was good enough for the second starting spot, while Ross Chastain qualified third in the Chevy-powered No. 1 car for Trackhouse Racing.

“Cool to be on the front row there with William,” Larson said. “Wish I could have went a little bit better. I have to look at the data to see where I gave up a little bit of time to him. Still feel like we have to work on our car quite a bit in race trim.”

The forecast is for temperatures in the 90s on Sunday, which could make the race even more unpredictable.

“I think it lends itself to moving up (to the wall),” Larson said. “Maybe with it being so hot it slows the pace down, where the other lanes develop. It didn’t seem like that in practice but we didn’t run that long, either.”

After winning Monday’s rain-delayed race at Dover, Martin Truex Jr. led the Toyota contingent — who swept Kansas last year with 23XI Racing — with a fourth-place qualifying run. Truex also made the list this week of NASCAR’s 75 greatest drivers.

“Honestly, this sport is so difficult to manage emotionally,” Truex said. “You’re always just trying to look at the positives and look at everything that’s good. And you know, you go through your questions about not winning for 50-some races and it’s like, all of a sudden you win a race and you’re on the list of the 75, you know, best drivers in history.

“It’s just very humbling,” Truex said, “and you know, just honored to be on that list. Honored to be back in victory lane.”

Tyler Reddick rounded out the top five in the No. 45 car for 23XI — the same car that won the race twice last year, Kurt Busch driving it in the spring and Bubba Wallace in the fall. No car has won at a track three straight times with different drivers.

“Had to race against 23XI last year and it was really cool to see all the speed they had, knowing I would be going there at some point,” said Reddick, whose car needed three trips through inspection to pass and had his car chief ejected.

Brennan Poole‘s car also failed inspection twice and the team was penalized a crew member.

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Hard-throwing rookie Misiorowski going to ASG

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Hard-throwing rookie Misiorowski going to ASG

Hard-throwing rookie Jacob Misiorowski is a National League All-Star replacement, giving the Milwaukee Brewers right-hander a chance to break Paul Skenes‘ record for the fewest big league appearances before playing in the Midsummer Classic.

Misiorowski was named Friday night to replace Chicago Cubs lefty Matthew Boyd, who will be unavailable for the All-Star Game on Tuesday night in Atlanta because he is scheduled to start Saturday at the New York Yankees.

The 23-year-old Misiorowski has made just five starts for the Brewers, going 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA while averaging 99.3 mph on his fastball, with 89 pitches that have reached 100 mph.

If he pitches at Truist Park, Misiorowski will make it consecutive years for a player to set the mark for fewest big league games before an All-Star showing.

Skenes, the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander getting ready for his second All-Star appearance, had made 11 starts in the majors when he was chosen as the NL starter for last year’s All-Star Game at Texas. He pitched a scoreless inning.

“I’m speechless,” said a teary-eyed Misiorowski, who said he was given the news a few minutes before the Brewers’ 8-3 victory over Washington. “It’s awesome. It’s very unexpected and it’s an honor.”

Misiorowski is the 30th first-time All-Star and 16th replacement this year. There are now 80 total All-Stars.

“He’s impressive. He’s got some of the best stuff in the game right now, even though he’s a young pitcher,” said Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who is a starting AL outfielder for his seventh All-Star nod. “He’s going to be a special pitcher in this game for a long time so I think he deserved it and it’s going be pretty cool for him and his family.”

Carlos Rodón, Carlos Estévez and Casey Mize were named replacement pitchers on the AL roster.

The New York Yankees‘ Rodón, an All-Star for the third time in five seasons, will replace teammate Max Fried for Tuesday’s game in Atlanta. Fried will be unavailable because he is scheduled to start Saturday against the Chicago Cubs.

In his final start before the All-Star game, Rodón allowed four hits and struck out eight in eight innings in an 11-0 victory over the Cubs.

“This one’s a little special for me,” said Rodón, an All-Star in 2021 and ’22 who was 3-8 in his first season with the Yankees two years ago before rebounding. “I wasn’t good when I first got here, and I just wanted to prove that I wasn’t to going to give up and just put my best foot forward and try to win as many games as I can.”

The Kansas City Royals‘ Estévez replaces Texas’ Jacob deGrom, who is scheduled to start at Houston on Saturday night. Estévez was a 2023 All-Star when he was with the Los Angeles Angels.

Mize takes the spot held by Boston‘s Garrett Crochet, who is scheduled to start Saturday against Tampa Bay. Mize gives the Tigers six All-Stars, most of any team and tied for the franchise record.

Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia will replace Tampa Bay‘s Brandon Lowe, who went on the injured list with left oblique tightness. The additions of Estévez and Garcia give the Royals four All-Stars, matching their 2024 total.

The Seattle Mariners announced center fielder Julio Rodríguez will not participate, and he was replaced by teammate Randy Arozarena. Rodríguez had been voted onto the AL roster via the players’ ballot. The Mariners, who have five All-Stars, said Rodríguez will use the break to “recuperate, rest and prepare for the second half.”

Arozarena is an All-Star for the second time. He started in left field for the AL two years ago, when he was with Tampa Bay. Arozarena was the runner-up to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the 2023 Home Run Derby.

Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen, a first-time All-Star, is replacing Angels left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, who is scheduled to start Saturday night at Arizona. Rasmussen is 7-5 with a 2.82 ERA in 18 starts.

San Diego added a third NL All-Star reliever in lefty Adrián Morejón, who replaces Philadelphia starter Zack Wheeler. The Phillies’ right-hander is scheduled to start at San Diego on Saturday night. Morejón entered the weekend with a 1.71 ERA in 45 appearances.

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Cardinals’ Arenado (sprained finger) exits early

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Cardinals' Arenado (sprained finger) exits early

The St. Louis Cardinals removed star third baseman Nolan Arenado from their 6-5 loss to the visiting Atlanta Braves on Friday night because of a sprained right index finger.

Arenado, who was 1-for-3, was replaced in the seventh inning by Thomas Saggese. While it was unclear how Arenado hurt the finger, it is the same injury that kept him out of two games last week during a series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Arenado has 10 home runs and 42 RBIs in 84 games this season.

Field Level Media contributed to this report.

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Twins SS Correa helped off with sprained ankle

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Twins SS Correa helped off with sprained ankle

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa had to be helped off the field after injuring his right ankle when Pittsburgh‘s Tommy Pham slid into him at second base.

Pham was trying to get to second on his liner off the wall in right field in the seventh inning of the Twins’ 2-1 victory Friday night. Right fielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr.’s throw beat Pham, whose batting helmet made contact with Correa’s lower leg.

Correa rolled over and stayed on the ground before leaving the game. Brooks Lee moved from second base to shortstop to replace Correa. The team said Correa had a mild ankle sprain.

Correa said X-rays were negative and that he expects to sit out Saturday’s game, adding that he “hopefully” can play on Sunday, according to MLB.com.

The 30-year-old Correa is already in his 11th big league season and has been a mainstay at shortstop for the Twins since signing as a free agent in 2022. He missed about half of last season with a concussion and a plantar fascia injury, the latter of which kept him from playing in the All-Star Game after he was chosen for the third time.

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