Kyle Busch on the Pole for Sunday’s Race at Phoenix

Kyle Busch will lead the field to the green flag on Sunday in the Valley of the Sun.

The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota scored the pole for the Good Sam 500 with a time of 26.014 and a speed of 138.387 mph. This is the 18th career pole and third at Phoenix International Raceway for the reigning Sprint Cup Series champion.

“We just cooled everything back down to make sure we gave it everything we got,” Busch said. “We just made a couple of fine-tuning adjustments from what we ran before and it was a tick faster, not much, just a tick.”

Carl Edwards will start second in his No. 19 JGR Toyota after posting a time of 26.179 and a speed of 137.515 mph. Denny Hamlin will join his two teammates in third in his No. 11 JGR Toyota after posting a time of 26.196 and a speed of 137.426 mph. Kurt Busch will start fourth in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet after posting a time of 26.202 and a speed of 137.394 mph.

Jimmie Johnson was to round out the top-five in his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet after posting a time of 26.244 and a speed of 137.174 mph, but he’ll start from the rear of the field on Sunday after his car slammed the wall in Turn 2 as he was making his second lap with two minutes remaining in the final round of qualifying.

“Certainly a lot of straight in an area of the track that I didn’t need to have straight. We’ll have to get to the bottom of it,” Johnson said. “Just a really hard impact to the outside wall. Thankful that we have SAFER barriers and soft walls. But very disappointed because we had such a fast race car.”

After qualifying, Johnson took to Twitter to explain what happened.

Jimmie Johnson after wrecking during qualifying at Phoenix2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matt Kenseth will start sixth in his No. 20 JGR Toyota followed by Kyle Larson in seventh in his

No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Martin Truex Jr. will start eighth in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota and Joey Logano starts ninth in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will round out the top-10 in his No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

Jamie McMurray will start 11th in his No. 1 CGR Chevrolet while Ryan Blaney will round out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying.

Kevin Harvick, the odds-on favorite to win this weekend, will start 18th in his No. 4 SHR Chevrolet.

Kasey Kahne posted the third-fastest time in the first round of qualifying, but he will start from the rear of the field on Sunday after changing engines. This is due to an issue with the EFI that caused his car to erupt in smoke. Kahne will join his teammate Johnson at the rear of the field Sunday.

Complete Starting Lineup: (As noted above, Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne will start from the rear of the field in backup cars).

NSCS-Starting-Lineup-Phoenix March 2016

 

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SpeedwayMedia.com

Tucker White
Tucker White
I've followed NASCAR for well over 20 years of my life, both as a fan and now as a member of the media. As of 2024, I'm on my ninth season as a traveling NASCAR beat writer. For all its flaws and dumb moments, NASCAR at its best produces some of the best action you'll ever see in the sport of auto racing. Case in point: Kyle Larson's threading the needle pass at Darlington Raceway on May 9, 2021. On used-up tires, racing on a worn surface and an aero package that put his car on the razor's edge of control, Larson demonstrated why he's a generational talent. Those are the stories I want to capture and break down. In addition to NASCAR, I also follow IndyCar and Formula 1. As a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, and a graduate of the University of Tennessee, I'm a diehard Tennessee Volunteers fan (especially in regards to Tennessee football). If covering NASCAR doesn't kill me, down the road, watching Tennessee football will. I'm also a diehard fan of the Atlanta Braves, and I lived long enough to see them win a World Series for the first time since 1995 (when I was just a year old). I've also sworn my fan allegiance to the Nashville Predators, though that's not paid out as much as the Braves. Furthermore, as a massive sports dork, I follow the NFL on a weekly basis. Though it's more out of an obligation than genuine passion (for sports dorks, following the NFL is basically an unwritten rule). Outside of sports, I'm a major cinema buff and a weeb. My favorite film is "Blazing Saddles" and my favorite anime is "Black Lagoon."

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