{"id":29117,"date":"2020-03-07T15:20:01","date_gmt":"2020-03-07T21:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=29117"},"modified":"2020-03-08T09:48:02","modified_gmt":"2020-03-08T14:48:02","slug":"chase-elliott-knocks-kevin-harvick-off-nascar-cup-series-pole-at-phoenix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/07\/chase-elliott-knocks-kevin-harvick-off-nascar-cup-series-pole-at-phoenix\/","title":{"rendered":"Chase Elliott knocks Kevin Harvick off NASCAR Cup Series pole at Phoenix"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/b><\/p>\n

AVONDALE, Ariz. \u2013 Kevin Harvick showed the way, and Chase Elliott proved the model student in Saturday\u2019s NASCAR Cup Series time trials at Phoenix Raceway.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, practices during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series FanShield 500 at Phoenix Raceway on March 06, 2020 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Graythen\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

After Harvick tested the traction compound at the top of the one-mile track and made it work\u2014running a qualifying lap in 26.110 seconds (137.878 mph)\u2014Elliott followed with a pole-winning effort of 26.065 seconds (138.116 mph).<\/p>\n

\u201cKevin kind of made the top work, and I think after everyone saw that, they moved up,\u201d said Elliott, who earned his first Busch Pole Award of the season, his first at Phoenix and the ninth of his career. \u201cIt\u2019s great to get a pole. We\u2019ve got different colors this week with (sponsor) UniFirst on our Camaro. I\u2019m excited to grab them a pole.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always exciting when you can put down a fast lap. Hopefully, (Sunday) goes good\u2014that\u2019s always the challenge. We\u2019ll see, and I\u2019m looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elliott and Harvick will line up on the front row for the FanShield 500 (3:30 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Denny Hamlin (137.841 mph) and Kyle Larson (137.604 mph) will start third and fourth, respectively, in the conclusion to the three-race West Coast Swing.<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/PHX_NCS_ElliottPole_030720.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Qualifying near the front at Phoenix is nothing new to Elliott, who will start within the top 10 for the eighth straight race at the one-mile mile track and on the front row for the third time in the last four events here.<\/p>\n

Finishing races at Phoenix has proven another matter entirely for the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Contrast Elliott\u2019s average starting position of 5.5 to his average finish of 13.8.<\/p>\n

Phoenix, on the other hand, has perhaps done more to cement Harvick\u2019s reputation as \u201cThe Closer\u201d than any other track. Harvick will start Sunday\u2019s race trying to extend a streak of 13 straight top 10s at the one-mile track in the Sonoran Desert, a string that includes six victories. All told, Harvick has won nine times at Phoenix.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was close,\u201d said Harvick, who did not make a mock run in either of Friday\u2019s practice sessions. \u201cI probably didn\u2019t have quite enough confidence on the first lap that I should have had in it. The guys did a great job.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot doing a qualifying lap in practice, we just worked on our race stuff, and we were kind of winging it right there as to what we thought was right, and it worked out OK.\u201d<\/p>\n

Series leader Ryan Blaney will start fifth on Sunday, followed by Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch and Alex Bowman, last Sunday\u2019s winner at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. Matt DiBenedetto qualified ninth, and Kyle Busch, the defending winner of the race, will line up 10th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Notes: Elliott qualified for next year\u2019s Busch Clash, which will be run on Daytona\u2019s road course for the first time\u2026 Martin Truex Jr. posted the 12th<\/sup> fastest lap on Saturday but will start from the rear of the field for the second straight week because of an engine change on Friday night. Last Sunday at Auto Club, Truex was sent to the back of the field after his car failed inspection three times.<\/p>\n

NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – 16th Annual FanShield 500<\/b><\/p>\n

Phoenix Raceway<\/b><\/p>\n

Avondale, Arizona<\/b><\/p>\n

Saturday, March 7, 2020<\/b><\/p>\n

               1. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 138.116 mph.<\/p>\n

               2. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 137.878 mph.<\/p>\n

               3. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 137.841 mph.<\/p>\n

               4. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 137.604 mph.<\/p>\n

               5. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 137.457 mph.<\/p>\n

               6. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford, 137.457 mph.<\/p>\n

               7. (1) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 137.420 mph.<\/p>\n

               8. (88) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 137.321 mph.<\/p>\n

               9. (21) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 137.289 mph.<\/p>\n

               10. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 137.247 mph.<\/p>\n

               11. (20) Erik Jones, Toyota, 137.106 mph.<\/p>\n

               12. (19) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 136.997 mph.<\/p>\n

               13. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 136.950 mph.<\/p>\n

               14. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 136.939 mph.<\/p>\n

               15. (95) Christopher Bell #, Toyota, 136.908 mph.<\/p>\n

               16. (41) Cole Custer #, Ford, 136.679 mph.<\/p>\n

               17. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet, 136.550 mph.<\/p>\n

               18. (14) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 136.426 mph.<\/p>\n

               19. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 136.116 mph.<\/p>\n

               20. (37) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 136.111 mph.<\/p>\n

               21. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 135.947 mph.<\/p>\n

               22. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford, 135.839 mph.<\/p>\n

               23. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, 135.788 mph.<\/p>\n

               24. (6) Ross Chastain(i), Ford, 135.711 mph.<\/p>\n

               25. (13) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 135.706 mph.<\/p>\n

               26. (38) John Hunter Nemechek #, Ford, 135.639 mph.<\/p>\n

               27. (43) Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, 135.161 mph.<\/p>\n

               28. (32) Corey LaJoie, Ford, 134.993 mph.<\/p>\n

               29. (8) Tyler Reddick #, Chevrolet, 134.867 mph.<\/p>\n

               30. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 134.469 mph.<\/p>\n

               31. (96) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 133.963 mph.<\/p>\n

               32. (15) Brennan Poole #, Chevrolet, 133.784 mph.<\/p>\n

               33. (52) JJ Yeley(i), Ford, 132.504 mph.<\/p>\n

               34. (00) Quin Houff #, Chevrolet, 132.299 mph.<\/p>\n

               35. (77) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 131.411 mph.<\/p>\n

               36. (51) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 131.081 mph.<\/p>\n

               37. (53) Joey Gase(i), Chevrolet, 130.752 mph.<\/p>\n

               38. (66) Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, 130.510 mph.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. \u2013 Kevin Harvick showed the way, and Chase Elliott proved the model student in Saturday\u2019s NASCAR Cup Series time trials at Phoenix Raceway. After Harvick tested the traction compound at the top of the one-mile track and made it work\u2014running a qualifying lap in 26.110 seconds (137.878 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":29118,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[500,561,16],"class_list":["post-29117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-chase-elliott","tag-ism-raceway","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/phx_elliott_prac1_030620-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1706","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-7zD","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29117"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29119,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29117\/revisions\/29119"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}