NASCAR

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

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1m ago

Mar 10, 2024 / 2111 Views

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