NASCAR: Logano wins pole at Phoenix
Give the early advantage to Joey Logano for the 2022 Cup Series championship. With a hot lap of 134.389 mph in the second round of Saturday’s qualifying session, the 2018 Cup champion won the pole for Sunday’s Cup Series championship race at Phoenix Raceway (3 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The pole marks Logano’s 26th in the Cup Series and fourth of 2022.
Logano will not only lead the field to green, but he will also have the first pick for pit stalls, a key aspect for Sunday’s 312-lap finale.
2020 Cup champion and Championship 4 competitor Chase Elliott qualified fifth with a 133.437 mph lap around the one-mile Arizona track.
Fellow Championship 4 competitors didn’t fare so well as Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain struggled on their qualifying runs Saturday afternoon and couldn’t find their way into the pole round. Instead, both will have a lot of work to do to navigate their way to the front as Bell will start 17th while Chastain starts well outside the top 20 in 25th.
Ryan Blaney will join his Team Penske teammate on the front row. Chase Briscoe and Kyle Larson will roll off third and fourth, respectively. Larson, the 2021 Cup champion, is still eligible for the 2022 owners’ championship on Sunday.
Harrison Burton, Kevin Harvick, William Byron, Cole Custer and Ty Gibbs rounded out the top 10 in qualifying.
After a five-race absence following his injury at Texas Motor Speedway, Alex Bowman returned to the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and qualified his hot rod in 24th.
In his final start with Joe Gibbs Racing, two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch will start 22nd in his No. 18 Toyota.