Team Penske has checked off one goal for Sunday's Phoenix Chase race. The team has locked out the front row and put itself in position to score points early.
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Ryan Blaney, the two-time defending Phoenix winner, posted the fastest lap time during Saturday's qualifying session. He traveled around the 1-mile track in 26.250 seconds. This marks his fifth pole win of the season and the fourth of his career at Phoenix Raceway.
Joey Logano, who won the pole for the Phoenix spring race, qualified second with a lap of 26.282 seconds. He will start on the front row at the 1-mile track for the 10th time in his Cup Series career as he seeks his fifth win there.
MORE: Phoenix Starting Lineup
The rest of the top 10 featured a heavy dose of Chase drivers. This included Chase Briscoe in third (26.311), Denny Hamlin in fourth (26.314), Christopher Bell in fifth (26.351), Tyler Reddick in sixth (26.398), Ty Gibbs in seventh (26.414), and William Byron in 10th (26.483).
The only non-Chase drivers in the top 10 were Michael McDowell in eighth (26.432) and Josh Berry in ninth (26.443).
The other Chase drivers included Daniel Suarez in 14th (26.655), Austin Cindric in 15th (26.655), Chase Elliott in 16th (26.667), Chris Buescher in 17th (26.678), Kyle Larson in 22nd (26.769), Bubba Wallace in 23rd (26.782), Ryan Preece in 26th (26.799), and Carson Hocevar in 28th (26.821).
Larson had a potentially strong lap going on Saturday afternoon. However, he got sideways in Turns 1 and 2 and had to correct his car.
Frustration for @KyleLarsonRacin after a qualifying lap that didn’t go as he hoped. pic.twitter.com/X4hUUTBjLG
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 17, 2026
This seemingly led to frustration as he removed his steering wheel after returning to the garage, and he tossed it into his in-car camera.
The Cup Series race at Phoenix will take place at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday. Leigh Diffey, Steve Letarte, and Jeff Burton will be in the booth as USA Network broadcasts the race.
This race marks one of four remaining in the 2026 season, and the final trip to the West Coast. The other three Chase races will take place at Talladega Superspeedway, Martinsville Speedway, and Homestead-Miami Speedway.
