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Denny Hamlin beats Ty Gibbs to Phoenix Cup pole in all-JGR front row

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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