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Qualifying report

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

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#DriverManufacturerTimeGapMph
1 21 united_states Ryan Blaney  Ford 26.098   137.942
2 11 united_states Denny Hamlin  Toyota 26.099 0.001 137.936
3 42 united_states Kyle Larson  Chevrolet 26.101 0.003 137.926
4 24 united_states Chase Elliott  Chevrolet 26.155 0.057 137.641
5 78 united_states Martin Truex Jr.  Toyota 26.166 0.068 137.583
6 4 united_states Kevin Harvick  Ford 26.230 0.132 137.247
7 20 united_states Matt Kenseth  Toyota 26.241 0.143 137.190
8 18 united_states Kyle Busch  Toyota 26.263 0.165 137.075
9 22 united_states Joey Logano  Ford 26.333 0.235 136.711
10 19 mexico Daniel Suarez  Toyota 26.380 0.282 136.467
11 77 united_states Erik Jones  Toyota 26.398 0.300 136.374
12 48 united_states Jimmie Johnson  Chevrolet 26.427 0.329 136.224
13 1 united_states Jamie McMurray  Chevrolet 26.308 0.210 136.841
14 88 united_states Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Chevrolet 26.408 0.310 136.322
15 41 united_states Kurt Busch  Ford 26.411 0.313 136.307
16 2 united_states Brad Keselowski  Ford 26.412 0.314 136.302
17 5 united_states Kasey Kahne  Chevrolet 26.416 0.318 136.281
18 31 united_states Ryan Newman  Chevrolet 26.462 0.364 136.044
19 27 united_states Paul Menard  Chevrolet 26.497 0.399 135.864
20 14 united_states Clint Bowyer  Ford 26.535 0.437 135.670
21 3 united_states Austin Dillon  Chevrolet 26.551 0.453 135.588
22 43 united_states Aric Almirola  Ford 26.606 0.508 135.308
23 47 united_states A.J. Allmendinger  Chevrolet 26.622 0.524 135.227
24 10 united_states Danica Patrick  Ford 26.694 0.596 134.862
25 6 united_states Trevor Bayne  Ford 26.542 0.444 135.634
26 38 united_states David Ragan  Ford 26.597 0.499 135.354
27 17 united_states Ricky Stenhouse Jr.  Ford 26.604 0.506 135.318
28 95 united_states Michael McDowell  Chevrolet 26.609 0.511 135.293
29 13 united_states Ty Dillon  Chevrolet 26.664 0.566 135.014
30 32 united_states Matt DiBenedetto  Ford 26.697 0.599 134.847
31 37 united_states Chris Buescher  Chevrolet 26.727 0.629 134.695
32 34 united_states Landon Cassill  Ford 26.762 0.664 134.519
33 23 united_states Corey Lajoie  Toyota 26.956 0.858 133.551
34 72 united_states Cole Whitt  Chevrolet 26.957 0.859 133.546
35 7 united_states Joey Gase  Chevrolet 26.970 0.872 133.482
36 66 united_states David Starr  Chevrolet 27.158 1.060 132.558
37 15 canada D.J. Kennington  Chevrolet 27.221 1.123 132.251
38 33 united_states Jeffrey Earnhardt  Chevrolet 27.352 1.254 131.617
39 51 united_states Kyle Weatherman  Chevrolet 28.337 2.239 127.042
40 00 united_states Derrike Cope  Chevrolet 0.000   0.000

 

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