Blaney Wins Phoenix Pole to Continue Penske Hot Streak

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AVONDALE, AZ – RIS – Ryan Blaney had the fastest car in practice and he proved it by winning the pole for the monster Energy NASCAR Cup Ticket Guardian 500 race at ISM Raceway on Friday.  Blaney turned a lap of 141.287 mph to keep Team Penske’s early season success going. It was his sixth career pole but first of the season and came on the heels of teammate Brad Keselowski’s victory at Atlanta and Joey Logano’s win last weekend at Las Vegas.

The biggest action in qualifying came after the opening round, when Daniel Suarez and Michael McDowell got into a fight. Suarez was upset that McDowell had gotten in his way, ruining both of their qualifying attempts, and it took several crew members to pull them apart.  It’s nothing new for McDowell.  He was accused of the same tactic by Martin Truex, Jr. at Atlanta.

“I held him up on that lap, that was just a miscommunication,” McDowell said. “We were all waiting until the end to go out there.”

Said Suarez: “Just a lack of respect. You got to try to get out of the way if someone is making a hot lap. That’s racing.

“I’m the kind of driver that I’m going to give a lot of respect to you, always, if you give me respect back. If you don’t give me respect, I’m going to go kick your ass.”

Among those who failed to advance to Round 2 were Kyle Larson, Matt DiBenedetto, Clint Bowyer, Suarez, McDowell and Larson.

Chase Elliott will start on the outside of the first row, while Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch will start from Row 2. Keselowski rounded out the top five in another strong start to a weekend.

“Qualifying hasn’t been our best this year but it’s the first short track we’ve been at,” Blaney said. “We’ve had speed all day, which has been kind of fun. We’ve just kind of tweaked on it and tweaked on it.

“It’s nice to get the weekend started off right. We’ll see how our race car is tomorrow (in practice). That was fun. At Las Vegas, was I wasn’t too happy about qualifying but now it’s cool you actually have to lift and you can work on your car.”

Pos         Car         Driver    Team     Time      Speed   Lap #     # Laps   -Fastest -Next

Qualifying Round:            3

1                              12           Ryan Blaney       MoneyLion Ford               25.480   141.287                 1              2              0.000     0.000

2                              9              Chase Elliott        Hooters Chevrolet           25.683   140.171                 1              2              0.203     0.203

3                              11           Denny Hamlin    FedEx Freight Toyota      25.713   140.007                 2              3              0.233     0.030

4                              18           Kyle Busch           Skittles Toyota   25.741   139.855                 2              3              0.261     0.028

5                              2              Brad Keselowski               Alliance Truck Parts Ford               25.742   139.849                 2              3                0.262     0.001

6                              88           Alex Bowman    Nationwide Chevrolet    25.757   139.768                 3              3              0.277     0.015

7                              24           William Byron    Axalta Chevrolet               25.794   139.567                 1              3              0.314     0.037

8                              4              Kevin Harvick     Jimmy John's Ford           25.823   139.411                 1              2              0.343     0.029

9                              19           Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota   25.861   139.206                 2              2              0.381     0.038

10                           20           Erik Jones            Reser's Fine Foods Toyota            25.901   138.991                 2              3              0.421                0.040

11                           8              Daniel Hemric # Okuma Chevrolet             25.928   138.846                 2              2              0.448     0.027

12                           22           Joey Logano       Shell Pennzoil Ford          25.962   138.664                 2              3              0.482     0.034

Qualifying Round:            2

1                              12           Ryan Blaney       MoneyLion Ford               25.641   140.400                 1              1              0.000     0.000

2                              11           Denny Hamlin    FedEx Freight Toyota      25.663   140.280                 2              2              0.022     0.022

3                              88           Alex Bowman    Nationwide Chevrolet    25.669   140.247                 2              2              0.028     0.006

4                              2              Brad Keselowski               Alliance Truck Parts Ford               25.673   140.225                 2              2                0.032     0.004

5                              18           Kyle Busch           Skittles Toyota   25.685   140.160                 2              2              0.044     0.012

6                              9              Chase Elliott        Hooters Chevrolet           25.718   139.980                 2              2              0.077     0.033

7                              4              Kevin Harvick     Jimmy John's Ford           25.754   139.784                 1              2              0.113     0.036

8                              19           Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota   25.811   139.475                 2              2              0.170     0.057

9                              24           William Byron    Axalta Chevrolet               25.813   139.465                 2              2              0.172     0.002

10                           22           Joey Logano       Shell Pennzoil Ford          25.819   139.432                 2              3              0.178     0.006

11                           8              Daniel Hemric # Okuma Chevrolet             25.908   138.953                 5              6              0.267     0.089

12                           20           Erik Jones            Reser's Fine Foods Toyota            25.909   138.948                 5              5              0.268                0.001

13                           3              Austin Dillon       Dow Chevrolet  25.924   138.867                 3              3              0.283     0.015

14                           10           Aric Almirola      Smithfield Ford 25.936   138.803                 2              2              0.295     0.012

15                           48           Jimmie Johnson Ally Chevrolet    25.936   138.803                 2              7              0.295     0.000

16                           1              Kurt Busch          Global Poker Chevrolet 25.943   138.766                 2              2              0.302     0.007

17                           21           Paul Menard      Menards/Quaker State Ford        25.948   138.739                 1              3              0.307                0.005

18                           6              Ryan Newman  Oscar Mayer Bacon Ford               25.956   138.696                 2              5              0.315                0.008

19                           17           Ricky Stenhouse Jr.         Sunny D Ford     25.989   138.520                 2              5              0.348     0.033

20                           13           Ty Dillon               GEICO Chevrolet              26.005   138.435                 2              5              0.364     0.016

21                           47           Ryan Preece #   Kroger Chevrolet              26.025   138.329                 2              3              0.384     0.020

22                           37           Chris Buescher  Kroger Flavor Fill Up Chevrolet   26.191   137.452                 2              2              0.550                0.166

23                           43           Bubba Wallace  World Wide Technology Chevrolet           26.289   136.939                 2              3                0.648     0.098

24                           32           Corey LaJoie       Schluter Systems Ford   26.310   136.830                 2              2              0.669     0.021

*Required to qualify on time, OP - Top 30 in Owner Points, PC - Past Champion,(i)Ineligible for driver points in this series

Pos         Car         Driver    Team     Time      Speed   Lap #     # Laps   -Fastest -Next

Qualifying Round:            1

1                              4              Kevin Harvick     Jimmy John's Ford           25.903   138.980                 3              3              0.000     0.000

2                              9              Chase Elliott        Hooters Chevrolet           25.943   138.766                 2              2              0.040     0.040

3                              17           Ricky Stenhouse Jr.         Sunny D Ford     26.002   138.451                 2              2              0.099     0.059

4                              21           Paul Menard      Menards/Quaker State Ford        26.013   138.392                 3              3              0.110                0.011

5                              37           Chris Buescher  Kroger Flavor Fill Up Chevrolet   26.016   138.376                 2              3              0.113                0.003

6                              2              Brad Keselowski               Alliance Truck Parts Ford               26.045   138.222                 2              2                0.142     0.029

7                              22           Joey Logano       Shell Pennzoil Ford          26.046   138.217                 2              2              0.143     0.001

8                              18           Kyle Busch           Skittles Toyota   26.055   138.169                 2              2              0.152     0.009

9                              3              Austin Dillon       Dow Chevrolet  26.058   138.153                 2              2              0.155     0.003

10                           12           Ryan Blaney       MoneyLion Ford               26.073   138.074                 1              1              0.170     0.015

11                           8              Daniel Hemric # Okuma Chevrolet             26.078   138.047                 3              3              0.175     0.005

12                           24           William Byron    Axalta Chevrolet               26.086   138.005                 2              2              0.183     0.008

13                           47           Ryan Preece #   Kroger Chevrolet              26.126   137.794                 3              3              0.223     0.040

14                           6              Ryan Newman  Oscar Mayer Bacon Ford               26.145   137.694                 2              2              0.242                0.019

15                           10           Aric Almirola      Smithfield Ford 26.157   137.630                 2              2              0.254     0.012

16                           1              Kurt Busch          Global Poker Chevrolet 26.166   137.583                 3              3              0.263     0.009

17                           19           Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota   26.168   137.573                 2              3              0.265     0.002

18                           20           Erik Jones            Reser's Fine Foods Toyota            26.175   137.536                 2              3              0.272                0.007

19                           88           Alex Bowman    Nationwide Chevrolet    26.181   137.504                 2              2              0.278     0.006

20                           13           Ty Dillon               GEICO Chevrolet              26.194   137.436                 3              5              0.291     0.013

21                           48           Jimmie Johnson Ally Chevrolet    26.205   137.378                 2              2              0.302     0.011

22                           11           Denny Hamlin    FedEx Freight Toyota      26.207   137.368                 3              3              0.304     0.002

23                           43           Bubba Wallace  World Wide Technology Chevrolet           26.288   136.945                 2              3                0.385     0.081

24                           32           Corey LaJoie       Schluter Systems Ford   26.303   136.867                 3              3              0.400     0.015

25                           95           Matt DiBenedetto           Procore Toyota 26.315   136.804                 1              2              0.412     0.012

26                           14           Clint Bowyer      ITsavvy Ford       26.362   136.560                 3              3              0.459     0.047

27                           34           Michael McDowell           Dockside Logistics Ford  26.371   136.514                 2              2              0.468                0.009

28                           41           Daniel Suarez     Ruckus Ford        26.379   136.472                 2              2              0.476     0.008

29                           38           David Ragan       Select Blinds Ford            26.382   136.457                 2              3              0.479     0.003

30                           36           Matt Tifft #         Surface Sunscreen/Tunity Ford  26.411   136.307                 3              5              0.508                0.029

31                           42           Kyle Larson         McDonald's Chevrolet   26.709   134.786                 1              1              0.806     0.298

32                           00           Landon Cassill    Iron Mountain Data Centers Chevrolet   26.777   134.444                 3              4                0.874     0.068

33                           15           Ross Chastain(i) FitStrong Chevrolet         26.989   133.388                 2              3              1.086     0.212

34                           51           Cody Ware #      Jacob Companies Chevrolet        27.770   129.636                 2              3              1.867                0.781

35                           77           Quin Houff          Rim Ryderz Chevrolet     28.646   125.672                 2              2              2.743     0.876

36                           52           Bayley Currey(i) Mtel-One Ford  0.000     0.000     0              0              -----        -----

*Required to qualify on time, OP - Top 30 in Owner Points, PC - Past Champion,(i)Ineligible for driver points in this series

Ron Fleshman

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2019, Issue 3, Posted 8:00 PM, 03.08.2019