Qualifying report
NASCAR Cup Phoenix
Denny Hamlin beats Ty Gibbs to Phoenix Cup pole in all-JGR front row
Denny Hamlin called Phoenix Raceway “by far his weakest oval” on Friday but on Saturday he was fastest when it counted most.
Jim Utter
Edited: Mar 9, 2024, 8:50 PM
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Hamlin ended up fastest in Round 1 of Saturday’s qualifying and repeated the effort in the final round, earning the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race with an average lap speed of 132.655 mph.
Hamlin, who was second fastest in Friday’s practice, will be joined on the front row by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs (132.227 mph).
The Toyota front row ended a streak of Fords winning the pole in the first three races of the 2024 season.
“It feels great. I’ve really been trying to get better at this place,” said Hamlin, who earned his 41st career pole. “Since 2019, really since the Next Gen era, we just haven’t been as strong at this race track as we want to.
“If we want to make a run at the championship and you have to win it through Phoenix then you have to get better at Phoenix. So, really hard at trying to get better at Phoenix – the whole team is.
“It’s a great start. Pretty happy about it.’
Chase Elliott in a Chevrolet ended up third (132.144 mph), while Erik Jones was fourth and Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, William Byron, rounded out the top five.
Completing the top 10 starting lineup are Tyler Reddick, Noah Gragson, Chase Briscoe, Michael McDowell and Carson Hocevar.
The top 10 featured a competitive mix of four Toyotas, three Chevrolets and three Fords.
CLA DRIVER # MANUFACTURER LAPS TIME INTERVAL MPH 1 D. HamlinJOE GIBBS RACING 11 Toyota 1
27.138
132.655 2
T. GibbsJOE GIBBS RACING
54 Toyota 1
+0.088
27.226
0.088 132.227 3 C. ElliottHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 9 Chevrolet 1
+0.105
27.243
0.017 132.144 4 E. JonesLEGACY MOTOR CLUB 43 Toyota 1
+0.111
27.249
0.006 132.115 5 W. ByronHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 24 Chevrolet 1
+0.131
27.269
0.020 132.018 6 T. Reddick23XI RACING 45 Toyota 1
+0.132
27.270
0.001 132.013 7 N. GragsonSTEWART-HAAS RACING 10 Ford 1
+0.194
27.332
0.062 131.714 8 C. BriscoeSTEWART-HAAS RACING 14 Ford 1
+0.225
27.363
0.031 131.565 9 M. McDowellFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS 34 Ford 1
+0.302
27.440
0.077 131.195 10
C. HocevarSPIRE MOTORSPORTS
77 Chevrolet 1
+0.359
27.497
0.057 130.923
Round 1 / Group B
McDowell continued his strong start to the season in qualifying by leading the way in Group B with an average speed of 132.885 mph.
Reddick was second fastest (132.861 mph) while Briscoe ended up third (132.680 mph). Also advancing to the final round were Gibbs and Gragson.
Among those who failed to advance to Round 2 were last week’s race winner, Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell and Daniel Suarez. Those who failed to advance from this group will lineup on the inside for the start on Sunday, starting with Truex in 11th on the grid.
6 M. Truex JrJOE GIBBS RACING 19 Toyota 1
+0.114
27.205
0.029 132.329 7 C. BellJOE GIBBS RACING 20 Toyota 1
+0.115
27.206
0.001 132.324 8 D. SuarezTRACKHOUSE RACING 99 Chevrolet 1
+0.139
27.230
0.024 132.207 9 K. LarsonHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 5 Chevrolet 1
+0.152
27.243
0.013 132.144 10 J. NemechekLEGACY MOTOR CLUB 42 Toyota 1
+0.187
27.278
0.035 131.974 11 D. HemricKAULIG RACING 31 Chevrolet 1
+0.199
27.290
0.012 131.916 12 J. LoganoTEAM PENSKE 22 Ford 1
+0.218
27.309
0.019 131.825 13 A. BowmanHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS 48 Chevrolet 1
+0.220
27.311
0.002 131.815 14 R. PreeceSTEWART-HAAS RACING 41 Ford 1
+0.299
27.390
0.079 131.435 15 T. GillilandFRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS 38 Ford 1
+0.307
27.398
0.008 131.396 16 K. BuschRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING 8 Chevrolet 1
+0.331
27.422
0.024 131.281 17 J. HaleyRICK WARE RACING 51 Ford 1
+0.388
27.479
0.057 131.009 18 C. LajoieSPIRE MOTORSPORTS 7 Chevrolet 1
+0.786
27.877
0.398 129.139
Round 1 / Group A
Hamlin picked up where he left off in Friday’s practice and led the way in the first group with an average lap speed of 133.225 mph.
Byron was second quick (132.812 mph) while Jones was third (132.763 mph). Also advancing to the final round of qualifying were Hocevar and Elliott.
Among those who failed to advance were Ross Chastain, reigning series champion Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace.
Josh Berry spun and tagged the wall during his qualifying attempt but the damage to his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford did not appear to be serious or require a backup car.
Those who failed to advance from this group will lineup on the outside for the start on Sunday, starting with Chastain in 12th on the grid.
6 R. ChastainTRACKHOUSE RACING 1 Chevrolet 1
+0.139
27.161
0.024 132.543 7 C. BuescherRFK RACING 17 Ford 1
+0.167
27.189
0.028 132.406 8 R. BlaneyTEAM PENSKE 12 Ford 1
+0.180
27.202
0.013 132.343 9 B. KeselowskiRFK RACING 6 Ford 1
+0.181
27.203
0.001 132.338 10 R. Stenhouse JrJTG DAUGHERTY RACING 47 Chevrolet 1
+0.255
27.277
0.074 131.979 11 B. Wallace23XI RACING 23 Toyota 1
+0.281
27.303
0.026 131.854 12 H. BurtonWOOD BROTHERS RACING 21 Ford 1
+0.319
27.341
0.038 131.670 13 D. KrausKAULIG RACING 16 Chevrolet 1
+0.366
27.388
0.047 131.444 14
Z. SmithSPIRE MOTORSPORTS
71 Chevrolet 1
+0.378
27.400
0.012 131.387 15 A. DillonRICHARD CHILDRESS RACING 3 Chevrolet 1
+0.433
27.455
0.055 131.124 16 K. GralaRICK WARE RACING 15 Ford 1
+0.560
27.582
0.127 130.520 17 A. CindricTEAM PENSKE 2 Ford 1
+0.600
27.622
0.040 130.331 18 J. BerrySTEWART-HAAS RACING 4 Ford 1
+11.402
38.424
10.802 93.691
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