Chase Elliott tops Kevin Harvick for Cup pole at Phoenix

Elliott was fastest in Friday’s final practice and on Saturday his average lap speed of 138.116 mph in qualifying was good enough to win the pole for Sunday’s FanShield 500.

The pole is the ninth of Elliott’s career and first at Phoenix Raceway.

“The line through (Turns) 1 and 2 was a lot different today. Kevin (Harvick) kind of made the top (lane) work and after everyone saw that, they moved up,” Elliott said. “It’s great to get a pole.

“It’s always a good thing when you can put down a fast lap. Hopefully tomorrow goes good. That’s always the challenge. We’ll see and I’m looking forward to it.”

Harvick, who has nine career wins at Phoenix, ended up second (137.878 mph) and Denny Hamlin was third (137.841 mph). Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney completed the top-five.

Rounding out the top-10 starters are Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch, Alex Bowman, Matt DiBenedetto and Kyle Busch.

Austin Dillon was forced to abort his initial qualifying run when he locked up the tires on his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet in Turn 3. He turned his car around and restarted his qualifying attempt but ended up 30th-fastest.

Both Martin Truex Jr. and John Hunter Nemechek will start from the rear in Sunday’s race regardless of where they qualified – Truex for making an engine change and Nemechek for changing radiators.

Cla	#	Driver		Manufacturer	Time	Gap	Mph
1	9	Chase Elliott		Chevrolet	26.065		138.116
2	4	Kevin Harvick		Ford	26.110	0.045	137.878
3	11	Denny Hamlin		Toyota	26.117	0.052	137.841
4	42	Kyle Larson		Chevrolet	26.162	0.097	137.604
5	12	Ryan Blaney		Ford	26.190	0.125	137.457
6	10	Aric Almirola		Ford	26.190	0.125	137.457
7	1	Kurt Busch		Chevrolet	26.197	0.132	137.420
8	88	Alex Bowman		Chevrolet	26.216	0.151	137.321
9	21	Matt DiBenedetto		Ford	26.222	0.157	137.289
10	18	Kyle Busch		Toyota	26.230	0.165	137.247
11	20	Erik Jones		Toyota	26.257	0.192	137.106
12	19	Martin Truex Jr.		Toyota	26.278	0.213	136.997
13	22	Joey Logano		Ford	26.287	0.222	136.950
14	2	Brad Keselowski		Ford	26.289	0.224	136.939
15	95	Christopher Bell		Toyota	26.295	0.230	136.908
16	41	Cole Custer		Ford	26.339	0.274	136.679
17	24	William Byron		Chevrolet	26.364	0.299	136.550
18	14	Clint Bowyer		Ford	26.388	0.323	136.426
19	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		Chevrolet	26.448	0.383	136.116
20	37	Ryan Preece		Chevrolet	26.449	0.384	136.111
21	48	Jimmie Johnson		Chevrolet	26.481	0.416	135.947
22	34	Michael McDowell		Ford	26.502	0.437	135.839
23	17	Chris Buescher		Ford	26.512	0.447	135.788
24	6	Ross Chastain		Ford	26.527	0.462	135.711
25	13	Ty Dillon		Chevrolet	26.528	0.463	135.706
26	38	John Hunter Nemechek		Ford	26.541	0.476	135.639
27	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.		Chevrolet	26.635	0.570	135.161
28	32	Corey Lajoie		Ford	26.668	0.603	134.993
29	8	Tyler Reddick		Chevrolet	26.693	0.628	134.867
30	3	Austin Dillon		Chevrolet	26.772	0.707	134.469
31	96	Daniel Suarez		Toyota	26.873	0.808	133.963
32	15	Brennan Poole		Chevrolet	26.909	0.844	133.784
33	52	J.J. Yeley		Ford	27.169	1.104	132.504
34	00	Quin Houff		Chevrolet	27.211	1.146	132.299
35	77	Reed Sorenson		Chevrolet	27.395	1.330	131.411
36	51	Garrett Smithley		Chevrolet	27.464	1.399	131.081
37	53	Joey Gase		Chevrolet	27.533	1.468	130.752
38	66	Timmy Hill		Toyota	27.584	1.519	130.510