AVONDALE, Ariz. – Friday afternoon at ISM Raceway, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman led their Hendrick Motorsports teammates in qualifying with top-five finishes.
After advancing to the final round of the session, Elliott and Bowman will roll off the grid third and fourth on Sunday, respectively.
"For our NAPA team to take our car to the parking lot and be able to put some improvements to it I think is a testament to our guys," Elliott said. "Good start, obviously a long ways to go but definitely a good enough starting spot."
Bowman echoed his teammate's sentiment, expressing his gratitude for the hard work his team has put in over the past few weeks.
"Just really happy for all my Nationwide 88 guys," Bowman said. "It's been a rough couple of weeks for them. We were all pretty confident but to unload with good speed and qualify well; obviously the weekend is not over yet, but it's going a lot better than the last couple of weeks have for sure."
William Byron joined his two teammates in the third round of qualifying and earned an 11th-place starting position.
Jimmie Johnson recorded the fastest time in the first 15-minute round, advancing through to the second. However, his Round 2 time was not enough to advance. Johnson will start Sunday’s race 17th .
“I’m very optimistic with the speed in the car in that first round and I’m looking forward to a full practice session or two tomorrow and dialing this Lowe’s for Pros Chevy in,” Johnson said following his qualifying efforts.
Martin Truex Jr. won the pole.
Sunday’s race is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on FOX, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.