Ryan Blaney and the Wood Brothers capture Phoenix pole
Ryan Blaney will enter a must-win scenario in the best position possible.
Ryan Blaney, Wood Brothers Racing Ford
Logan Whitton / NKP / Motorsport Images
Blaney, who needs a win in Sunday’s Can-Am 500 at Phoenix Raceway to advance to next weekend’s Championship 4, rocketed to the top of the speed chart late in Friday’s final round of knockout qualifying to claim the pole.
Blaney’s lap at 137.942 mph just surpassed Denny Hamlin (137.936 mph). Kyle Larson was third, Chase Elliott was fourth and Martin Truex Jr. completed the top-five.
The pole is Blaney’s second this season (his first came at Kansas in the spring) and the second of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career.
“It was a good run for us; we got better each round,” Blaney said. “I really didn’t it would be enough. I didn’t think I got the best lap. I tried to get more on my second lap and messed up.
“It’s really cool. We started second here in the spring race and it’s nice to be on the pole here. Getting a pole on a short track, I never thought I’d be doing that. It’s a good start to the weekend and hopefully we can just keep it going.
“Anytime you can have a good Friday it starts your weekend off well. It’s a just a matter of keep building on it and getting our race car better and better and where it should be.”
The rest of the top 12 are Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones and Jimmie Johnson.
Round 2
The sun had set by the start of the second round of knockout qualifying the speeds jumped.
Kenseth went out early in the 10-minute session and posted the fastest lap of the day at the time, at 138.106 mph. In all, the top six drivers in Round 2 topped the fastest speed in Round 1.
Harvick ended up second (137.825 mph), Larson was third, Blaney fourth and Hamlin completed the top-five.
Also advancing to the final round were Kyle Busch, Elliott, Jones, Truex, Logano, Johnson and Suarez.
Among those who failed to advance to the final round were Brad Keselowski, who ended up 16th and was the only playoff driver who failed to reach Round 3.
“Qualifying here hasn’t been great for us of late,” Keselowski said, who holds a 19-point advantage over the cut line for the final position in next weekend’s Championship 4.
Also not advancing were McMurray, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer, Austin Dillon and Danica Patrick.
“Identical,” Earnhardt said over his team radio after a lap of 136.322mph. “That’s all I had.”
Round 1
Larson led the way in the first 20-minute session of knockout qualifying, going out after the halfway mark and posting an average lap speed of 137.499 mph.
Larson just topped his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, McMurray (137.226 mph).
Harvick was third-fastest, Blaney fourth and Logano completed the top-five. All eight playoff drivers advanced to the second round.
Among the drivers who failed to advance to Round 2 were Trevor Bayne, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ty Dillon and David Ragan. Derrike Cope never made it on track to post a qualifying speed.
Stenhouse had to abandon his first qualifying attempt after he locked up his brakes.
“We had a few issues with our brake system. I locked up the left-front up pretty bad there,” Stenhouse said. “Even after I went out again, I wasn’t really able to run that lap as good as I could.”
Stenhouse said his No. 17 team will likely have to change tires and would then start Sunday’s race from the rear of the field.
Cla | # | Driver | Manufacturer | Time | Gap | Mph |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 26.098 | 137.942 | |
2 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 26.099 | 0.001 | 137.936 |
3 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 26.101 | 0.003 | 137.926 |
4 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 26.155 | 0.057 | 137.641 |
5 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | 26.166 | 0.068 | 137.583 |
6 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 26.230 | 0.132 | 137.247 |
7 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 26.241 | 0.143 | 137.190 |
8 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 26.263 | 0.165 | 137.075 |
9 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 26.333 | 0.235 | 136.711 |
10 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 26.380 | 0.282 | 136.467 |
11 | 77 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 26.398 | 0.300 | 136.374 |
12 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 26.427 | 0.329 | 136.224 |
13 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 26.308 | 0.210 | 136.841 |
14 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 26.408 | 0.310 | 136.322 |
15 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 26.411 | 0.313 | 136.307 |
16 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 26.412 | 0.314 | 136.302 |
17 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 26.416 | 0.318 | 136.281 |
18 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 26.462 | 0.364 | 136.044 |
19 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 26.497 | 0.399 | 135.864 |
20 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 26.535 | 0.437 | 135.670 |
21 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 26.551 | 0.453 | 135.588 |
22 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 26.606 | 0.508 | 135.308 |
23 | 47 | A.J. Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 26.622 | 0.524 | 135.227 |
24 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Ford | 26.694 | 0.596 | 134.862 |
25 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 26.542 | 0.444 | 135.634 |
26 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 26.597 | 0.499 | 135.354 |
27 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 26.604 | 0.506 | 135.318 |
28 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Chevrolet | 26.609 | 0.511 | 135.293 |
29 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 26.664 | 0.566 | 135.014 |
30 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 26.697 | 0.599 | 134.847 |
31 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 26.727 | 0.629 | 134.695 |
32 | 34 | Landon Cassill | Ford | 26.762 | 0.664 | 134.519 |
33 | 23 | Corey Lajoie | Toyota | 26.956 | 0.858 | 133.551 |
34 | 72 | Cole Whitt | Chevrolet | 26.957 | 0.859 | 133.546 |
35 | 7 | Joey Gase | Chevrolet | 26.970 | 0.872 | 133.482 |
36 | 66 | David Starr | Chevrolet | 27.158 | 1.060 | 132.558 |
37 | 15 | D.J. Kennington | Chevrolet | 27.221 | 1.123 | 132.251 |
38 | 33 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Chevrolet | 27.352 | 1.254 | 131.617 |
39 | 51 | Kyle Weatherman | Chevrolet | 28.337 | 2.239 | 127.042 |
40 | 00 | Derrike Cope | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 |
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