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	Ryan Blaney		Ford	1	27.127			132.709
2	11	Denny Hamlin		Toyota	1	27.200	0.073	0.073	132.353
3	24	William Byron		Chevrolet	1	27.216	0.089	0.016	132.275
4	20	Christopher Bell		Toyota	1	27.217	0.090	0.001	132.270
5	10	Aric Almirola		Ford	1	27.276	0.149	0.059	131.984
6	14	Chase Briscoe		Ford	1	27.284	0.157	0.008	131.945
7	5	Kyle Larson		Chevrolet	1	27.285	0.158	0.001	131.941
8	2	Austin Cindric		Ford	1	27.299	0.172	0.014	131.873
9	48	Alex Bowman		Chevrolet	1	27.320	0.193	0.021	131.772
10	22	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	William Byron		Chevrolet	1	27.303			131.854
2	2	Austin Cindric		Ford	1	27.359	0.056	0.056	131.584
3	14	Chase Briscoe		Ford	1	27.377	0.074	0.018	131.497
4	48	Alex Bowman		Chevrolet	1	27.412	0.109	0.035	131.329
5	22	Joey Logano		Ford	1	27.478	0.175	0.066	131.014
6	45	Kurt Busch		Toyota	1	27.505	0.202	0.027	130.885
7	9	Chase Elliott		Chevrolet	1	27.586	0.283	0.081	130.501
8	19	Martin Truex Jr.		Toyota	1	27.602	0.299	0.016	130.425
9	34	Michael McDowell		Ford	1	27.663	0.360	0.061	130.138
10	99	Daniel Suarez		Chevrolet	1	27.669	0.366	0.006	130.110
11	21	Harrison Burton		Ford	1	27.673	0.370	0.004	130.091
12	17	Chris Buescher		Ford	1	27.714	0.411	0.041	129.898
13	23	Bubba Wallace		Toyota	1	27.738	0.435	0.024	129.786
14	31	Justin Haley		Chevrolet	1	27.765	0.462	0.027	129.660
15	16	A.J. Allmendinger		Chevrolet	1	27.806	0.503	0.041	129.468
16	7	Corey Lajoie		Chevrolet	1	28.046	0.743	0.240	128.361
17	77	Landon Cassill		Chevrolet	1	28.285	0.982	0.239	127.276
18	15	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	Ryan Blaney		Ford	1	27.116			132.763
2	10	Aric Almirola		Ford	1	27.159	0.043	0.043	132.553
3	20	Christopher Bell		Toyota	1	27.170	0.054	0.011	132.499
4	5	Kyle Larson		Chevrolet	1	27.177	0.061	0.007	132.465
5	11	Denny Hamlin		Toyota	1	27.189	0.073	0.012	132.406
6	18	Kyle Busch		Toyota	1	27.254	0.138	0.065	132.091
7	8	Tyler Reddick		Chevrolet	1	27.323	0.207	0.069	131.757
8	3	Austin Dillon		Chevrolet	1	27.360	0.244	0.037	131.579
9	43	Erik Jones		Chevrolet	1	27.466	0.350	0.106	131.071
10	4	Kevin Harvick		Ford	1	27.519	0.403	0.053	130.819
11	1	Ross Chastain		Chevrolet	1	27.539	0.423	0.020	130.724
12	6	Brad Keselowski		Ford	1	27.544	0.428	0.005	130.700
13	42	Ty Dillon		Chevrolet	1	27.623	0.507	0.079	130.326
14	41	Cole Custer		Ford	1	27.691	0.575	0.068	130.006
15	51	Cody Ware		Ford	1	28.288	1.172	0.597	127.262
16	38	Todd Gilliland		Ford	1	28.299	1.183	0.011	127.213
17	78	B.J. McLeod		Ford	1	28.451	1.335	0.152	126.533
18	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		Chevrolet