AVONDALE, Ariz. – Chase Elliott earned his best starting spot of the 2024 season in NASCAR Cup Series qualifying at Phoenix Raceway.
Elliott's lap of 132.144 mph (27.243 seconds) in the No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 put him in the third on the starting grid. In 15 starts at Phoenix, Elliott has one win (the 2020 championship race), five top-five finishes, eight top-10s and his 546 laps led are the second-most he's been out front at an active track on the schedule. This marks his second top-five starting spot of the season.
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William Byron lines up fifth (132.018 mph/27.269 seconds) in the No. 24 RAPTOR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. The 26-year-old driver is the defending race winner with two top-five finishes and seven top-10s in 12 starts at the Avondale, Arizona, facility. The 2024 DAYTONA 500 winner is one of three drivers – along with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson to finish in the top five in last year's two races at the 1-mile track. This is also Byron's second top-five starting spot of the season.
Larson is set to take the green flag from the 17th position in the No. 5 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. In 19 starts at Phoenix, Larson has one win (the 2021 championship race), eight top-five finishes and 12 top-10s – the latter two marks are tied for his most at any one track. Since coming to Hendrick Motorsports, he has finished outside the top 10 in one of six starts at Phoenix. The 31-year-old driver is coming off a win last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Alex Bowman will start 25th in the No. 48 Ally Best Friends Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. This weekend's race is at the 30-year-old Tucson, Arizona, native's home track on the circuit. In 17 starts at the 1-mile venue, he has two top-10 finishes, with a best result of sixth in 2016. In that event, Bowman started from the pole and led 194 laps while subbing for the sidelined Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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Denny Hamlin earned the pole position for Sunday's 312-lap race.
On Friday, Cup Series teams had an extended practice of 50 minutes at the Phoenix race, as this is the first race that the 2024 short-track package will be on track. The package includes 2023 short track/road course splitter stuffers, no engine panel strakes, a three-inch spoiler (was previously two inches), a simplified diffuser and simplified diffuser strakes. It will be used at all upcoming tracks 1 mile or shorter and road courses, except Bristol Motor Speedway and Dover Motor Speedway.
Hendrick Motorsports has a series-best 13 wins among nine drivers at Phoenix. Jimmie Johnson tops the board with four and Gordon has two victories. Kyle Busch, Byron, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Elliott, Terry Labonte, Larson and Mark Martin have each tallied one triumph at the 1-mile track for the team. The organization also leads the way in poles (15), top-five finishes (56), top-10s (102) and laps led (3,530) at the Arizona venue. The team's six straight wins at Phoenix from 2007 to 2009 are the longest such streak for the organization and the third-longest streak (of one team winning at one track) in Cup Series history.
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In last year's spring race at Phoenix, the Rick Hendrick-owned team dominated the event, winning and leading 265 of the 317 laps run. Byron notched the victory as he got the better of Larson in an overtime finish. Larson scored the pole position and led a race-high 201 laps. In addition, Bowman and Josh Berry (filling in for an injured Elliott) notched top-10 finishes as all four cars placed in the top 10. This was the 28th and most recent time the team had all four drivers finish in the top 10 of a race.
As a company, Hendrick Motorsports is three laps away from 80,000 led in the Cup Series. Across 35 different tracks, 29 drivers have led laps in team history and those circuits have accounted for a distance of 105,321 miles.
The quartet of Hendrick Motorsports drivers will next be on track for Sunday's 312-lap race. The event gets underway at 3:30 p.m. on FOX, MRN Radio, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).