Martin Truex Jr. edges Kyle Larson for Phoenix pole
It didn’t take long for Martin Truex Jr. to serve up a reminder of his dominating 2017 championship season.
Photo by: Barry Cantrell / NKP / Motorsport Images
Truex blasted to the top of the leaderboard Friday in the final round of knockout qualifying to claim the pole for Sunday’s TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway near Phoenix.
Truex’s average lap speed of 136.945 mph was the fastest recorded by any Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver throughout the day.
Kyle Larson ended up second (136.643 mph), Chase Elliott third, Alex Bowman fourth and Joey Logano completed the top five.
Completing the Top 12: Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, Erik Jones, Kevin Harvick, William Byron and Ryan Blaney.
The pole is the first of the season for Truex, the 16th of his career and second at Phoenix. His last pole at Phoenix came in the 2009 season.
“I did get a little loose getting in there (Turn 3) and thought for a second maybe I screwed up, but I caught the brake and caught the front grip just enough to keep it off the seam in the middle of the corner,” Truex said.
“Hats off to the guys. They’ve done a great job today. We had a good game plan. We’ve qualified well here in the past but we’ve been searching for those last couple of spots. We were fifth here in the fall.
“Good execution and a fun day today.”
Round 2
Larson, who was fastest in Friday’s lone practice session, edged out a pair of Hendrick Motorsports teammates in the 10-minute second qualifying session.
Larson’s average lap speed of 136.364 mph just edged Elliott (136.333 mph). Bowman was third, Hamlin fourth and Kyle Busch completed the top-five.
Also advancing to the final round of knockout qualifying: Truex, Jones, McMurray, Logano, Harvick, Blaney and Byron, who broke into the Top 12 just before the conclusion of the session.
Among those who failed to advance to the final round were: Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, Paul Menard, Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch and Austin Dillon.
Johnson’s starting position (17th) was a surprise considering he was fastest in Round 1.
“I kind of look back to the amount of practice we had,” Johnson said. “I never had a chance to go out on scuff tires to see what kind of adjustments we needed to make. But we have a fast car for Sunday.”
Johnson missed the final 30 minutes of practice Friday because his No. 48 twice failed pre-race inspection prior to last weekend’s race at Las Vegas.
Round 1
Johnson bolted to the top of the leaderboard late in the first 15-minute session with an average lap speed of 135.624 mph.
Johnson supplanted Jones (135.069 mph), who held the spot for the first 10 minutes.
Elliott was third-fastest, Hamlin fourth and Kyle Busch completed the top-five.
Both Chris Buescher and Kurt Busch made late-session runs in an attempt to advance to Round 2 and both were successful.
Among those who failed to advance were Kasey Kahne, Brad Keselowski, Darrell Wallace Jr., Ty Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Stenhouse wrecked his primary car on his first lap of practice on Friday. Because of using a backup car, Stenhouse was going to have to start Sunday’s race from the rear of the field regardless.
“We’re ready to come from the back on Sunday,” he said.
Jeffrey Earnhardt slammed the wall in Turn 3 early in the session, doing damage to the right-front area of his No. 00 Chevrolet. That brought out a red flag to briefly bring the session to a halt.
“Just locked up the front tires. It sucks. Not the way we wanted to start the weekend,” Earnhardt said.
Both Trevor Bayne and D.J. Kennington were in the middle of attempting their qualifying laps when the incident aborted their runs. The both had to cool their engines on pit road before beginning another attempt.
All cars passed pre-qualifying inspection prior to the start of the first session.
Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Time | Gap | Mph |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 26.288 | 136.945 | |
2 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 26.346 | 0.058 | 136.643 |
3 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 26.446 | 0.158 | 136.126 |
4 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 26.455 | 0.167 | 136.080 |
5 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 26.481 | 0.193 | 135.947 |
6 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 26.490 | 0.202 | 135.900 |
7 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 26.496 | 0.208 | 135.870 |
8 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 26.497 | 0.209 | 135.864 |
9 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 26.504 | 0.216 | 135.829 |
10 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 26.564 | 0.276 | 135.522 |
11 | 24 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 26.708 | 0.420 | 134.791 |
12 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 26.711 | 0.423 | 134.776 |
13 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 26.615 | 0.327 | 135.262 |
14 | 21 | Paul Menard | Ford | 26.631 | 0.343 | 135.181 |
15 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 26.652 | 0.364 | 135.074 |
16 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 26.664 | 0.376 | 135.014 |
17 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 26.665 | 0.377 | 135.008 |
18 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 26.667 | 0.379 | 134.998 |
19 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 26.726 | 0.438 | 134.700 |
20 | 47 | A.J. Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 26.809 | 0.521 | 134.283 |
21 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 26.818 | 0.530 | 134.238 |
22 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 26.850 | 0.562 | 134.078 |
23 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 26.913 | 0.625 | 133.764 |
24 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 26.953 | 0.665 | 133.566 |
25 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 27.012 | 0.724 | 133.274 |
26 | 95 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 27.024 | 0.736 | 133.215 |
27 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | Chevrolet | 27.057 | 0.769 | 133.052 |
28 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 27.065 | 0.777 | 133.013 |
29 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 27.084 | 0.796 | 132.920 |
30 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 27.150 | 0.862 | 132.597 |
31 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 27.305 | 1.017 | 131.844 |
32 | 23 | Gray Gaulding | Toyota | 27.542 | 1.254 | 130.709 |
33 | 72 | Corey Lajoie | Chevrolet | 27.612 | 1.324 | 130.378 |
34 | 96 | D.J. Kennington | Toyota | 27.757 | 1.469 | 129.697 |
35 | 51 | Timmy Hill | Chevrolet | 27.931 | 1.643 | 128.889 |
36 | 15 | Ross Chastain | Chevrolet | 28.004 | 1.716 | 128.553 |
37 | 00 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 |
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