Chase Elliott tops Kevin Harvick for Cup pole at Phoenix
There’s no doubt Chase Elliott will be a favorite to earn his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season at Phoenix.
Elliott was fastest in Friday’s final practice and on Saturday his average lap speed of 138.116 mph in qualifying was good enough to win the pole for Sunday’s FanShield 500.
The pole is the ninth of Elliott’s career and first at Phoenix Raceway.
“The line through (Turns) 1 and 2 was a lot different today. Kevin (Harvick) kind of made the top (lane) work and after everyone saw that, they moved up,” Elliott said. “It’s great to get a pole.
“It’s always a good thing when you can put down a fast lap. Hopefully tomorrow goes good. That’s always the challenge. We’ll see and I’m looking forward to it.”
Harvick, who has nine career wins at Phoenix, ended up second (137.878 mph) and Denny Hamlin was third (137.841 mph). Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney completed the top-five.
Rounding out the top-10 starters are Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch, Alex Bowman, Matt DiBenedetto and Kyle Busch.
Austin Dillon was forced to abort his initial qualifying run when he locked up the tires on his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet in Turn 3. He turned his car around and restarted his qualifying attempt but ended up 30th-fastest.
Both Martin Truex Jr. and John Hunter Nemechek will start from the rear in Sunday’s race regardless of where they qualified – Truex for making an engine change and Nemechek for changing radiators.
| Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Time | Gap | Mph | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 |  Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 26.065 | 138.116 | ||
| 2 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 26.110 | 0.045 | 137.878 | |
| 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 26.117 | 0.052 | 137.841 | |
| 4 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 26.162 | 0.097 | 137.604 | |
| 5 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 26.190 | 0.125 | 137.457 | |
| 6 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 26.190 | 0.125 | 137.457 | |
| 7 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 26.197 | 0.132 | 137.420 | |
| 8 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 26.216 | 0.151 | 137.321 | |
| 9 | 21 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 26.222 | 0.157 | 137.289 | |
| 10 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 26.230 | 0.165 | 137.247 | |
| 11 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 26.257 | 0.192 | 137.106 | |
| 12 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 26.278 | 0.213 | 136.997 | |
| 13 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 26.287 | 0.222 | 136.950 | |
| 14 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 26.289 | 0.224 | 136.939 | |
| 15 | 95 | Christopher Bell | Toyota | 26.295 | 0.230 | 136.908 | |
| 16 | 41 | Cole Custer | Ford | 26.339 | 0.274 | 136.679 | |
| 17 | 24 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 26.364 | 0.299 | 136.550 | |
| 18 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 26.388 | 0.323 | 136.426 | |
| 19 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Chevrolet | 26.448 | 0.383 | 136.116 | |
| 20 | 37 | Ryan Preece | Chevrolet | 26.449 | 0.384 | 136.111 | |
| 21 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 26.481 | 0.416 | 135.947 | |
| 22 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 26.502 | 0.437 | 135.839 | |
| 23 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Ford | 26.512 | 0.447 | 135.788 | |
| 24 | 6 | Ross Chastain | Ford | 26.527 | 0.462 | 135.711 | |
| 25 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 26.528 | 0.463 | 135.706 | |
| 26 | 38 | John Hunter Nemechek | Ford | 26.541 | 0.476 | 135.639 | |
| 27 | 43 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | Chevrolet | 26.635 | 0.570 | 135.161 | |
| 28 | 32 | Corey Lajoie | Ford | 26.668 | 0.603 | 134.993 | |
| 29 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Chevrolet | 26.693 | 0.628 | 134.867 | |
| 30 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 26.772 | 0.707 | 134.469 | |
| 31 | 96 |  Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 26.873 | 0.808 | 133.963 | |
| 32 | 15 | Brennan Poole | Chevrolet | 26.909 | 0.844 | 133.784 | |
| 33 | 52 | J.J. Yeley | Ford | 27.169 | 1.104 | 132.504 | |
| 34 | 00 | Quin Houff | Chevrolet | 27.211 | 1.146 | 132.299 | |
| 35 | 77 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 27.395 | 1.330 | 131.411 | |
| 36 | 51 | Garrett Smithley | Chevrolet | 27.464 | 1.399 | 131.081 | |
| 37 | 53 | Joey Gase | Chevrolet | 27.533 | 1.468 | 130.752 | |
| 38 | 66 | Timmy Hill | Toyota | 27.584 | 1.519 | 130.510 |
Chase Elliott tops Kyle Busch in final Cup practice
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