{"id":37385,"date":"2022-03-12T15:35:38","date_gmt":"2022-03-12T21:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=37385"},"modified":"2022-03-13T13:11:59","modified_gmt":"2022-03-13T18:11:59","slug":"ryan-blaney-captures-pole-at-phoenix-raceway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2022\/03\/12\/ryan-blaney-captures-pole-at-phoenix-raceway\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryan Blaney captures pole at Phoenix Raceway"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain<\/em><\/p>\n

NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney earned his third career Phoenix Raceway pole position on Saturday afternoon and will line up alongside Joe Gibbs Racing\u2019s Denny Hamlin to lead the field to green in Sunday\u2019s Ruoff Mortgage 500 (3:30 p.m., FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).<\/p>\n

\"\"

Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Menards\/Maytag Ford, poses for photos after winning the pole award
during qualifying for the Ruoff Mortgage 500 at Phoenix Raceway on March 12, 2022 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Logan Riely\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

It is the best race start of the season for both drivers, who are eager to rebound after uncharacteristic tough luck in the opening three races of 2022.<\/p>\n

Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford has only a single Top-10 finish this year (fourth in the Daytona 500) and is coming off a hard-luck 36th place showing last week at Las Vegas after being collected in an early race accident not of his own doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood race trim and was happy, obviously, with the speed in qualifying,\u2019\u2019 said Blaney, who now has seven career NASCAR Cup Series pole positions.<\/p>\n

\u201cProud of everybody on this 12 group and definitely needed it after our early end last week at Vegas. Hopefully we can stay up front tomorrow and have a shot at it,\u2019\u2019 he added, noting he has already put his Vegas bad luck out of mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just look past it,\u2019\u2019 he said, \u201cI try not to stew on those things. Those things happen and you can\u2019t let it get to you too much. It\u2019s better to have fast cars and unfortunate things happen to you because at least you have fast cars.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Menards\/Maytag Ford, prepares to qualify for the Ruoff Mortgage 500 at Phoenix Raceway on March 12, 2022 in Avondale, Arizona. (Photo by Logan Riely\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, is also hoping a good start will translate into a good finish. He won two races in 2021 and was racing in the Championship Four the last time the series competed at Phoenix, but has struggled this season with DNFs in two of the opening three races this year. His best finish is 15th at Auto Club Speedway and he\u2019s ranked 29th in the standings heading into to the Phoenix green flag.<\/p>\n

Hamlin is a two-time Phoenix winner, however taking the trophy in 2012 and 2019 \u2013 and he has top-five finishes in five of the last six races there. Three times he\u2019s led at least 100 laps in a race and his 854 laps led is second only to nine-time race winner Kevin Harvick.<\/p>\n

\u201cProud of our whole team for getting this thing out front, now we\u2019ve just got to stay there,\u2019\u2019 Hamlin said.<\/p>\n

Hendrick Motorsports\u2019 William Byron was third fastest in qualifying followed by Joe Gibbs Racing\u2019s Christopher Bell and Stewart-Haas Racing\u2019s Aric Almirola.<\/p>\n

Stewart-Haas Racing\u2019s Chase Briscoe, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson, Team Penske’s rookie Austin Cindric, last week\u2019s race winner Hendrick Motorsports\u2019 Alex Bowman, and Team Penske\u2019s Joey Logano round out the Top-10 starting positions all advancing to the second round of qualifying on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Harvick, a nine-time Phoenix winner, will start 16th.  Defending race winner Martin Truex Jr. will roll off 20th.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

BOWMAN AND BUSCH TALK IT OUT<\/b><\/p>\n

Last week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the hometown hero Kyle Busch was leading the race when a yellow came out forcing a two-lap shootout to decide the trophy.<\/p>\n

Alex Bowman and two of his Hendrick Motorsports teammates opted for two tires on the quick final pit stop while Busch\u2019s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team took four tires \u2013 putting Bowman on the front row for the restart and Busch behind him on the second row. Bowman went on to win while Busch \u2013 who finished fourth – expressed his displeasure on the team radio after the checkered flag with some salty language.<\/p>\n

Multiple outlets published Busch\u2019s angry reaction inside the car, although he was very sportsmanlike when speaking to the national television audience minutes later. Busch, who led 41 laps was frustrated that \u2013 \u201cagain\u201d \u2013 Bowman won a race by leading only a handful of laps (16) and being at the right place at the right time.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou go home with a trophy either way, right,\u2019\u2019 said Bowman, a Tucson native that considers Phoenix his home race. \u201cI think we\u2019ve dominated races that we\u2019ve lost and that sucks. Here (at Phoenix) in 2016. A couple races at Charlotte that we\u2019ve led a ton of laps and not won at the end. I think for me, collecting a trophy is really all that matters.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Bowman said Saturday he took the Busch fallout in stride, even selling t-shirts with the Busch quote about him, \u201call luck, no talent\u201d and donating the money raised to an animal shelter \u2013 one of Bowman\u2019s longtime favored causes.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, Busch texted Bowman and the two talked it out.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe texted me Monday night,\u2019\u2019 Bowman said. \u201dI appreciate him texting me, but I don\u2019t think he needed to. I understand why he was mad. We all know Kyle \u2013 he\u2019s super passionate, fiery and gets lit up sometimes. They lost the race and he was mad about it, so I get that.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I do appreciate him texting me. We\u2019ve always raced each other with respect. He\u2019s one of the guys that I feel like I race better with than most. So, appreciative of that. We\u2019ve never had any issues before and I don\u2019t even that that was an issue. It was just an opportunity to make a t-shirt and raise some money for animals.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

HARVICK\u2019S PHOENIX PRECEDENT<\/p>\n

Harvick has triple the number of wins (nine) at Phoenix Raceway as any other competitor he\u2019ll race with in Sunday\u2019s NASCAR Cup Series race. Next closest in the win tally is Kyle Busch with three victories.<\/p>\n

And Harvick, 46, and his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team are hopeful some of that impressive past record will translate into some present day good fortune, but he refuses to equate his past record with his present expectations.<\/p>\n

After turning in a series best nine wins in 2020, Harvick went winless in 2021 \u2013 the first time in 12 years he didn\u2019t earn at least one victory. This year, he\u2019s got only one top-10 showing \u2013 seventh place \u2013 at California Speedway. He\u2019s yet to start a race from the top-20.  He\u2019s currently ranked 16th in points.<\/p>\n

Despite his refusal to make expectations for the weekend, Harvick has to feel Phoenix is as good a place as any to right the ship. He\u2019s only finished outside the top-10 one time there in the last 20 races (13th in 2013). He won six times in eight races between 2012-16, including four consecutive (2013-15). And even after the track re-design in 2019, Harvick has five top-10 finishes in five races, including a runner-up effort in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of the things that were finesse kind of went away when they put the resin and the PJ1 up there so that anybody could do that groove,\u2019\u2019 Harvick said this week at Phoenix, adding, \u201cYou just have to keep chipping away at it and try to keep yourself in contention and that is really what it is all about. We are still learning.”<\/p>\n

And, he added, \u201cWhat you have done here in the past is really irrelevant just because of the fact that it is a different car and a different style of racing. There are so many different things.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe probably had a sixth or a 10th place last week (at Las Vegas) and had a decent car at California, we just kept having little things go wrong and just continue to chip away at it and see where it falls,\u2019\u2019 Harvick said.<\/p>\n

Interviews:<\/h3>\n

Austin Cindric – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/CindricNCS031222.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Alex Bowman – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/BowmanNCS031222.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Martin Truex Jr. – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/TruexNCS031222.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Michael McDowell – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/McDowellNCS031222.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Corey LaJoie –<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/LajoieNCS031222.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kevin Harvick – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/HarvickNCS031222.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Denny Hamlin – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/HamlinNCS031222.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – 18th Annual Ruoff Mortgage 500<\/b><\/p>\n

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

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

Saturday, March 12, 2022<\/b><\/p>\n

  1. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 132.709 mph.<\/p>\n

  2. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 132.353 mph.<\/p>\n

  3. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet, 132.275 mph.<\/p>\n

  4. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 132.270 mph.<\/p>\n

  5. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford, 131.984 mph.<\/p>\n

  6. (14) Chase Briscoe, Ford, 131.945 mph.<\/p>\n

  7. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 131.941 mph.<\/p>\n

  8. (2) Austin Cindric #, Ford, 131.873 mph.<\/p>\n

  9. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 131.772 mph.<\/p>\n

  10. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 129.922 mph.<\/p>\n

  11. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  12. (8) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  13. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  14. (43) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  15. (45) Kurt Busch, Toyota, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  16. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  17. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  18. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  19. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  20. (19) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  21. (42) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  22. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  23. (99) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  24. (21) Harrison Burton #, Ford, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  25. (41) Cole Custer, Ford, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  26. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  27. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  28. (31) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  29. (16) AJ Allmendinger(i), Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  30. (7) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  31. (77) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  32. (51) Cody Ware, Ford, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  33. (38) Todd Gilliland #, Ford, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  34. (78) BJ McLeod, Ford, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  35. (15) Garrett Smithley, Ford, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

  36. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain NASCAR Wire Service Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney earned his third career Phoenix Raceway pole position on Saturday afternoon and will line up alongside Joe Gibbs Racing\u2019s Denny Hamlin to lead the field to green in Sunday\u2019s Ruoff Mortgage 500 (3:30 p.m., FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). It is the best race […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":37398,"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":[16,395,435],"class_list":["post-37385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-nascar","tag-phoenix-raceway","tag-ryan-blaney"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/GettyImages-1384646646-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1706&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-9IZ","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37385"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37407,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37385\/revisions\/37407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}