AVONDALE, Ariz. — Score one for the drivers in hot pursuit of Chase leader Kyle Larson.
In qualifying for Sunday‘s 312-lap Freeway Insurance 500 at Phoenix Raceway (3 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Ryan Blaney claimed the pole position with a lap at 137.143 mph (26.250 seconds).
Blaney is one of five drivers closest to Larson in The Chase presented by Mobil 1 standings, and those five drivers earned the top five positions on the grid for Sunday‘s race, while Larson qualified a disappointing 22nd in Saturday‘s time trials.
Blaney, who is going for his third straight Phoenix win, is fifth in the race for the NASCAR Cup Series title, 85 points behind Larson. His Team Penske teammate, Joey Logano, qualified second at 136.926 mph, 0.032 seconds off Blaney‘s pace.
RELATED: Starting lineup | Phoenix weekend schedule
A four-time Phoenix winner, Logano is sixth in The Chase standings, 92 points in arrears.
Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota drivers Chase Briscoe (136.825 mph), Denny Hamlin (136.809 mph) and Christopher Bell (136.617 mph) qualified third through fifth, respectively.
Hamlin is second in the standings, 49 points back, with Bell trailing by 51 in third and Briscoe by 65 in fourth. Briscoe is seeking his third straight win in The Chase, having triumphed at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Accordingly, Sunday‘s race presents a golden opportunity for those chasing Larson both to score stage points and compete for a crucial victory.
“It‘s really, really important, just from our side, to put yourself up toward the front early in the race, try to get some points early and try to keep track position,” said Blaney, who claimed his fourth Busch Light Pole Award at Phoenix, his fifth of the season and the 17th of his career.
“Job one done today, so I‘m proud of everybody for doing a good job and taking that first step, and then a whole new challenge tomorrow. Hopefully, we can keep going.”
Blaney also posted the best single-lap speed in Saturday‘s practice, covering the one-mile distance in 26.969 mph (133.487 mph).
Three-time series champion Logano described his current Chase position as “pretty desperate.”
“If we want to win the championship, this race in particular is one that we have circled and has been good for us,” he said. “If we‘re going to make up 90-plus points in four races, you have to win.
“It‘s a must-win scenario and probably multiple times to do that, so if we want to win this whole thing and do it without wishing bad luck upon somebody, then we‘re going to have to win.”
Tyler Reddick (136.374 mph), Ty Gibbs (136.291 mph), Michael McDowell (136.199 mph), Josh Berry (136.142 mph) and William Byron (135.936 mph) completed the top 10 on the starting grid for Sunday.
It‘s worth noting that in the last 18 Cup races at Phoenix—from 2017 through the entire Gen 7 era—no winner has started deeper in the field than 13th, and all but three winners in that span have started in the top 10.
WATCH: NASCAR video highlights
Practice
Blaney logged the quickest lap in Saturday’s 50-minute practice session. The No. 12 Team Penske Ford laid down a best circuit of 133.487 mph and ran 77 laps around the 1-mile oval.
Fellow Chase drivers Carson Hocevar (133.433 mph), Joey Logano (133.259 mph), Denny Hamlin (132.91 mph) and Christopher Bell (132.841 mph) were the five quickest on single-lap time.
MORE: Practice results
Larson was dissatisfied with the balance of his car throughout the day. He was 13th fastest in practice and 12th in best consecutive 10-lap average.
Contributing: Staff report