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Nick DeGroot

Ryan Blaney takes Phoenix Cup pole for Team Penske

Joey Logano was very nearly the first incident of the qualifying session, going for a big slide out of Turn 4 in the final round. He made slight contact with the outside wall, causing very minor damage to the right-rear of his No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron led the way halfway through the pole round of qualifying, but it would not last.

Denny Hamlin eclipsed him soon after. Both Kyle Larson and Aric Almirola looked to be threats to Hamlin, but both fell off in Turns 3 and 4.

However, that was not the case for Ryan Blaney. The Team Penske driver put up a 132.709mph lap to take pole position from Hamlin. They were separated by 0.073s on the time charts.

William Byron was third, Christopher Bell fourth and Almirola fifth. Chase Briscoe, Larson, Austin Cindric, Alex Bowman and Logano rounded out the top-ten.

This will be Blaney's seventh career pole and his third at Phoenix Raceway.

“I thought it was a pretty decent lap," said Blaney. "You just hope you make the right changes to try to get a little bit better and everyone else is trying to do the same thing. I got a little bit tight in 3 and 4 and that worried me a little bit but overall the car had great speed in it and has had really good speed all day. I appreciate everyone's help. It is a nice place to start for tomorrow.”

Due to unapproved adjustments to address a steering issue, Larson will have to start from the rear of the field.

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Interval Mph
1 12 United States Ryan Blaney Ford 1 27.127     132.709
2 11 United States Denny Hamlin Toyota 1 27.200 0.073 0.073 132.353
3 24 United States William Byron Chevrolet 1 27.216 0.089 0.016 132.275
4 20 United States Christopher Bell Toyota 1 27.217 0.090 0.001 132.270
5 10 United States Aric Almirola Ford 1 27.276 0.149 0.059 131.984
6 14 United States Chase Briscoe Ford 1 27.284 0.157 0.008 131.945
7 5 United States Kyle Larson Chevrolet 1 27.285 0.158 0.001 131.941
8 2 United States Austin Cindric Ford 1 27.299 0.172 0.014 131.873
9 48 United States Alex Bowman Chevrolet 1 27.320 0.193 0.021 131.772
10 22 United States Joey Logano Ford 1 27.709 0.582 0.389 129.922

Round 1 - Group A

Byron topped the charts among Group A drivers, lapping the one-mile circuit in 27.303 seconds.

Cindric, who led the way in practice, was just behind. Briscoe, Bowman and Logano will also join them in the pole round.

Kurt Busch was the first driver to be eliminated, missing out on advancement by 0.027s.

There were no incidents.

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Interval Mph
1 24 United States William Byron Chevrolet 1 27.303     131.854
2 2 United States Austin Cindric Ford 1 27.359 0.056 0.056 131.584
3 14 United States Chase Briscoe Ford 1 27.377 0.074 0.018 131.497
4 48 United States Alex Bowman Chevrolet 1 27.412 0.109 0.035 131.329
5 22 United States Joey Logano Ford 1 27.478 0.175 0.066 131.014
6 45 United States Kurt Busch Toyota 1 27.505 0.202 0.027 130.885
7 9 United States Chase Elliott Chevrolet 1 27.586 0.283 0.081 130.501
8 19 United States Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 1 27.602 0.299 0.016 130.425
9 34 United States Michael McDowell Ford 1 27.663 0.360 0.061 130.138
10 99 Mexico Daniel Suarez Chevrolet 1 27.669 0.366 0.006 130.110
11 21 United States Harrison Burton Ford 1 27.673 0.370 0.004 130.091
12 17 United States Chris Buescher Ford 1 27.714 0.411 0.041 129.898
13 23 United States Bubba Wallace Toyota 1 27.738 0.435 0.024 129.786
14 31 United States Justin Haley Chevrolet 1 27.765 0.462 0.027 129.660
15 16 United States A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 1 27.806 0.503 0.041 129.468
16 7 United States Corey Lajoie Chevrolet 1 28.046 0.743 0.240 128.361
17 77 United States Landon Cassill Chevrolet 1 28.285 0.982 0.239 127.276
18 15 United States Garrett Smithley Ford 1 29.193 1.890 0.908 123.317

Round 1 - Group B

BJ McLeod was the first driver to lock up the front brakes during qualifying. He was slowest among all drivers in his group.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. did not take part because JTG Daugherty Racing had to make an engine change to his No. 47 car.

The second group was much faster than the first. Blaney led the way with a 27.116-second lap.

Almirola, Bell, Larson, and Hamlin also advanced.

Kyle Busch, like his brother Kurt in Group A, was the first driver to miss out. He was 0.065s off of the fast five.

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Interval Mph
1 12 United States Ryan Blaney Ford 1 27.116     132.763
2 10 United States Aric Almirola Ford 1 27.159 0.043 0.043 132.553
3 20 United States Christopher Bell Toyota 1 27.170 0.054 0.011 132.499
4 5 United States Kyle Larson Chevrolet 1 27.177 0.061 0.007 132.465
5 11 United States Denny Hamlin Toyota 1 27.189 0.073 0.012 132.406
6 18 United States Kyle Busch Toyota 1 27.254 0.138 0.065 132.091
7 8 United States Tyler Reddick Chevrolet 1 27.323 0.207 0.069 131.757
8 3 United States Austin Dillon Chevrolet 1 27.360 0.244 0.037 131.579
9 43 United States Erik Jones Chevrolet 1 27.466 0.350 0.106 131.071
10 4 United States Kevin Harvick Ford 1 27.519 0.403 0.053 130.819
11 1 United States Ross Chastain Chevrolet 1 27.539 0.423 0.020 130.724
12 6 United States Brad Keselowski Ford 1 27.544 0.428 0.005 130.700
13 42 United States Ty Dillon Chevrolet 1 27.623 0.507 0.079 130.326
14 41 United States Cole Custer Ford 1 27.691 0.575 0.068 130.006
15 51 United States Cody Ware Ford 1 28.288 1.172 0.597 127.262
16 38 United States Todd Gilliland Ford 1 28.299 1.183 0.011 127.213
17 78 United States B.J. McLeod Ford 1 28.451 1.335 0.152 126.533
18 47 United States Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Chevrolet        
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