Truex went out early in the final round of Saturday’s qualifying session and held to win the pole for Sunday’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Although he won the regular season title, Truex has struggled in the playoffs with no finish better than ninth.
His average lap speed on of 167.411 mph edged fellow Toyota driver Bubba Wallace (167.115 mph) to claim his second pole of the season and 22nd of his career. It’s also the 500th pole by a Toyota driver in NASCAR’s three national series – Cup, Xfinity and Trucks.
“I actually thought we could have been a little bit better there,” Truex said. “You never know here. Scuff tires are always a challenge. Pretty good to get that pole for Toyota and a great start for us as well.
“Based on my past experience here I think we are close enough to be good later in the day (in the race) when the track gets slick. With these cars, you just never know what direction it could go. I can be a complete curveball.
“We just need to make smart adjustments tonight and figure out what the pace is going to be and where I want to run and go from there.”
Toyota completed a sweep of the top three positions with Tyler Reddick in third, Brad Keselowski was fourth and last week’s race winner, Kyle Larson, rounded out the top five.
Completing the top-10 starting lineup are Austin Dillon, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Ty Gibbs and Ryan Blaney.
| Cla | Driver | # | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Interval | Mph | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  M. TRUEX JRJoe Gibbs Racing |
19 | Toyota | 1 |
32.256 |
167.411 | ||
| 2 | B. WALLACE23XI Racing |
23 | Toyota | 1 |
+0.057 32.313 |
0.057 | 167.115 | |
| 3 | T. REDDICK23XI Racing |
45 | Toyota | 1 |
+0.088 32.344 |
0.031 | 166.955 | |
| 4 | B. KESELOWSKIRFK Racing |
6 | Ford | 1 |
+0.161 32.417 |
0.073 | 166.579 | |
| 5 | K. LARSONHendrick Motorsports |
5 | Chevrolet | 1 |
+0.254 32.510 |
0.093 | 166.103 | |
| 6 | A. DILLONRichard Childress Racing |
3 | Chevrolet | 1 |
+0.295 32.551 |
0.041 | 165.894 | |
| 7 | W. BYRONHendrick Motorsports |
24 | Chevrolet | 1 |
+0.303 32.559 |
0.008 | 165.853 | |
| 8 | R. CHASTAINTrackHouse Racing |
1 | Chevrolet | 1 |
+0.307 32.563 |
0.004 | 165.832 | |
| 9 |
T. GIBBSJoe Gibbs Racing
|
54 | Toyota | 1 |
+0.310 32.566 |
0.003 | 165.817 | |
| 10 | R. BLANEYTeam Penske |
12 | Ford | 1 |
+0.338 32.594 |
0.028 | 165.675 |
Round 1 / Group A
As he did in practice, Wallace led the way in his qualifying group with an average lap speed of 169.343 mph.
Truex was second fastest at 168.755 mph and Austin Dillon ended up third 168.219 mph.
Also advancing to the final round of qualifying were Keselowski and Blaney, who was the top playoff driver in the group.
Among those who failed to move on were Alex Bowman and playoff drivers Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell.
| Cla | Driver | # | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Interval | Mph | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B. WALLACE23XI Racing |
23 | Toyota | 1 |
31.888 |
169.343 | ||
| 2 | M. TRUEX JRJoe Gibbs Racing |
19 | Toyota | 1 |
+0.111 31.999 |
0.111 | 168.755 | |
| 3 | A. DILLONRichard Childress Racing |
3 | Chevrolet | 1 |
+0.213 32.101 |
0.102 | 168.219 | |
| 4 | B. KESELOWSKIRFK Racing |
6 | Ford | 1 |
+0.216 32.104 |
0.003 | 168.203 | |
| 5 | R. BLANEYTeam Penske |
12 | Ford | 1 |
+0.247 32.135 |
0.031 | 168.041 | |
| 6 | D. HAMLINJoe Gibbs Racing |
11 | Toyota | 1 |
+0.258 32.146 |
0.011 | 167.984 | |
| 7 | A. BOWMANHendrick Motorsports |
48 | Chevrolet | 1 |
+0.281 32.169 |
0.023 | 167.863 | |
| 8 | C. BELLJoe Gibbs Racing |
20 | Toyota | 1 |
+0.296 32.184 |
0.015 | 167.785 | |
| 9 |  D. SUAREZTrackHouse Racing |
99 | Chevrolet | 1 |
+0.333 32.221 |
0.037 | 167.593 | |
| 10 | M. MCDOWELLFront Row Motorsports |
34 | Ford | 1 |
+0.368 32.256 |
0.035 | 167.411 | |
| 11 | K. BUSCHRichard Childress Racing |
8 | Chevrolet | 1 |
+0.457 32.345 |
0.089 | 166.950 | |
| 12 | C. BRISCOEStewart-Haas Racing |
14 | Ford | 1 |
+0.501 32.389 |
0.044 | 166.723 | |
| 13 | R. STENHOUSE JRJTG Daugherty Racing |
47 | Chevrolet | 1 |
+0.507 32.395 |
0.006 | 166.692 | |
| 14 | A. CINDRICTeam Penske |
2 | Ford | 1 |
+0.557 32.445 |
0.050 | 166.436 | |
| 15 | R. PREECEStewart-Haas Racing |
41 | Ford | 1 |
+0.625 32.513 |
0.068 | 166.087 | |
| 16 | T. DILLONSpire Motorsports |
77 | Chevrolet | 1 |
+0.932 32.820 |
0.307 | 164.534 | |
| 17 | R. NEWMANRick Ware Racing |
51 | Ford | 1 |
+0.962 32.850 |
0.030 | 164.384 | |
| 18 | J. BILICKILive Fast Motorsports |
78 | Chevrolet | 1 |
+1.476 33.364 |
0.514 | 161.851 |
Round 1 / Group B
Reddick was fastest in the second group with an average lap speed at 168.734 mph.
Gibbs ended up second fastest at 168.193 mph and Byron was third (167.738 mph).
Also advancing to the final round of qualifying were Larson and Chastain.
Among those who failed to move on were Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick and Chris Buescher.
Aric Almirola began his qualifying lap but seemed to fall off the pace and ended with a slow qualifying lap.
Joey Logano did not participate in qualifying after he wrecked in the final minutes of Saturday’s practice session.
| Cla | Driver | # | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Interval | Mph |
|---|
