Joey Logano was very nearly the first incident of the qualifying session, going for a big slide out of Turn 4 in the final round. He made slight contact with the outside wall, causing very minor damage to the right-rear of his No. 22 Team Penske Ford.
Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron led the way halfway through the pole round of qualifying, but it would not last.
Denny Hamlin eclipsed him soon after. Both Kyle Larson and Aric Almirola looked to be threats to Hamlin, but both fell off in Turns 3 and 4.
However, that was not the case for Ryan Blaney. The Team Penske driver put up a 132.709mph lap to take pole position from Hamlin. They were separated by 0.073s on the time charts.
This will be Blaney’s seventh career pole and his third at Phoenix Raceway.
“I thought you were going to have to go a little bit quicker, and I saw everyone not going as fast,” Blaney told FS1. “I was like, well, let’s try and hit the same lap I did, but I kind of gave a little bit back off (Turn) 4….
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Motorsport.com – All – Stories…