Daytona 500 winner William Byron's strong season continued Saturday when he won the pole at Phoenix Raceway. Byron, the points leader entering Sunday's race, earned his 14th career pole with a lap of 133.

The mile-long intermediate track is early in the NASCAR season, and it provides a strong test for the Cup Series’ top drivers.

William Byron, the last to qualify Saturday, edged Joey Logano for the Sunday pole as NASCAR begins a series of ovals.

Daytona 500 winner William Byron climbed out of his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet on Phoenix Raceway pit road with a huge smile after claiming his first pole position in nearly a year — the last car to turn a qualifying lap.

Logano was in the mix at the season-opening Daytona 500 but ended up finishing 35th in a late-race crash that had Kyle Busch fuming. He finished fourth at Atlanta but struggled on the road course at Circuit of Americas in Austin, Texas, last week to finish 24th. Logano will start on the front row on Sunday.

Katherine Legge (28.060 sec.) is slated to make her NASCAR Cup Series debut with Live Fast Motorsports. The four-time IMSA race winner will become the first internationally born woman to race in Cup since Christine Beckers and Lella Lombardi in the 1977 July Daytona race.

Joey Logano was no fan of NASCAR's decision to penalize him at Sunday's Shriners Children's 500 in Phoenix. On Lap 18, the three-time Cup Series champion was hit with a restart violation that forced him to give up his lead and head towards the back of the pack.

William Byron, alongside Joey Logano on the front row, leads the NASCAR Cup Series field to the green flag at Phoenix Raceway.