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.
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.
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…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Motorsport.com – NASCAR – Stories…