Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Nascar Next Gen Ford Mustang, will start from the pole when the green flag drops for the Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, March 13th.
Blaney posted a blistering 27.127-second lap with a top speed of 132.709 mph around Phoenix’s one mile oval track.
“Really good MAYTAG Menards Ford Mustang all day, really,” Blaney told FOX Sports. “Good in race trim, was happy, obviously, with the speed in qualifying. I thought you were going to have to run a little quicker (in the second round) and I saw everyone not going as fast.”
The #pole is ours @phoenixraceway in our @Menards @FordPerformance @Ford #mustang #qualifyingrecap pic.twitter.com/MzW58QjAAU
— Ryan Blaney (@Blaney) March 12, 2022
Starting beside him in second place is the No. 11 Toyota TRD Camry driven by Denny Hamlin. Third-fastest in qualifying was the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 of William Byron, followed by Christopher Bell in the No. 20 Toyota TRD Camry. Fifth place is rounded out by another Ford team, the No. 10 Mustang of Aric Almirola.
Defending Nascar Cup Series Champion Kyle Larson, No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro, will forfeit his seventh-best starting position and will instead start at the rear of the field. This is due to unapproved adjustments made by his team to address a steering issue.
Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 19 Toyota TRD Camry, won last last year’s spring race at Phoenix Raceway. He will start 20th.
Nine teams suffered penalties due to failing pre-qualifying inspection multiple times, and have each had crew members ejected. This list includes the No. 8 Camaro ZL1 of Tyler Reddick, the No. 15 Ford Mustang of Garrett Smithley, the No. 18 Toyota TRD Camry of Kyle Busch, the No. 20 Toyota TRD Camry of Christopher Bell, the No. 38 Ford Mustang of Todd Gilliland, the No. 41 Ford Mustang of Cole Custer, the No. 42 Camaro ZL1 of Ty Dillon, the No. 43 Camaro ZL1 of Erik Jones and the No. 77 Camaro ZL1 of Landon Cassill. Any specifics regarding the infractions were not revealed by Nascar.
| Pos | Car Number | Driver | Team | Time | Speed | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Menards/Maytag Ford | 27.127 | 132.709 | Ford Mustang |
| 2 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Office Toyota | 27.2 | 132.353 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 3 | 24 | William Byron | Axalta Chevrolet | 27.216 | 132.275 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 4 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Rheem – Capitol Container Toyota | 27.217 | 132.27 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 5 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 27.276 | 131.984 | Ford Mustang |
| 6 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Tractors Ford | 27.284 | 131.945 | Ford Mustang |
| 7 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Valvoline Chevrolet | 27.285 | 131.941 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 8 | 2 | Austin Cindric # | Autotrader Ford | 27.299 | 131.873 | Ford Mustang |
| 9 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally/Best Friends Chevrolet | 27.32 | 131.772 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 10 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 27.709 | 129.922 | Ford Mustang |
| 11 | 18 | Kyle Busch | DeWalt Toyota | 27.254 | 132.091 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 12 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Guaranteed Rate Chevrolet | 27.323 | 131.757 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 13 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Get Bioethanol Chevrolet | 27.36 | 131.579 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 14 | 43 | Erik Jones | FOCUSfactor Chevrolet | 27.466 | 131.071 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 15 | 45 | Kurt Busch | MoneyLion Toyota | 27.505 | 130.885 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 16 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford | 27.519 | 130.819 | Ford Mustang |
| 17 | 1 | Ross Chastain | K1 Speed Chevrolet | 27.539 | 130.724 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 18 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Violet Defense Ford | 27.544 | 130.7 | Ford Mustang |
| 19 | 9 | Chase Elliott | UniFirst Chevrolet | 27.586 | 130.501 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 20 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 27.602 | 130.425 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 21 | 42 | Ty Dillon | Black Rifle Coffee Company Chevrolet | 27.623 | 130.326 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 22 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Love's Travel Stops Ford | 27.663 | 130.138 | Ford Mustang |
| 23 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | CommScope Chevrolet | 27.669 | 130.11 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 24 | 21 | Harrison Burton # | DEX Imaging Ford | 27.673 | 130.091 | Ford Mustang |
| 25 | 41 | Cole Custer | HaasTooling.com Ford | 27.691 | 130.006 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 17 | Chris Buescher | ITsavvy Ford | 27.714 | 129.898 | Ford Mustang |
| 27 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | ROOT Insurance Toyota | 27.738 | 129.786 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 28 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 27.765 | 129.66 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 29 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger(i) | Action Industries Chevrolet | 27.806 | 129.468 | #N/A |
| 30 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Built.com Chevrolet | 28.046 | 128.361 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 31 | 77 | Landon Cassill(i) | Voyager: Crypto for All Chevrolet | 28.285 | 127.276 | #N/A |
| 32 | 51 | Cody Ware | Nurtec ODT Ford | 28.288 | 127.262 | Ford Mustang |
| 33 | 38 | Todd Gilliland # | Frontline Enterprises Inc. Ford | 28.299 | 127.213 | Ford Mustang |
| 34 | 78 | BJ McLeod | Premier Business Investments Ford | 28.451 | 126.533 | Ford Mustang |
| 35 | 15 | Garrett Smithley | Jacob Companies Ford | 29.193 | 123.317 | Ford Mustang |
| 36 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Fry's/NOS Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
- # – Rookie
- i – Points ineligible
- * – Part-time driver
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