Joey Logano sped to his first Busch Light Pole Award of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season for the Straight Talk Wireless 500 at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, March 7.
The event’s starting lineup was determined through a single-car, single-lap qualifying format. In this format, all 37 competitors vying for 37 starting spots cycled around Phoenix Raceway once to post the fastest lap amongst one another. The competitor who posted the fastest single lap was awarded the pole position.
During Saturday’s qualifying session, Logano, who was the 19th-fastest competitor during Saturday’s practice session and fought through slick on-track conditions, clocked in a single-qualifying lap at 135.537 mph in 26.561 seconds. The lap was enough for Logano to achieve the first pole position of this season for himself, Team Penske, and Ford.
With the pole, Logano achieved his 34th career Cup Series pole, which places him in 18th place on the all-time Cup poles list. The pole was also Logano’s third at Phoenix and his first in the series since New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September 2025.
“Obviously, [the car] was good for qualifying,” Logano said on Prime. “I thought we were pretty good on the long run, too. A really special weekend for Team Penske, celebrating our 60th [anniversary]. Cool for Team Penske. [David] Malukas got the IndyCar pole [for Saturday’s Phoenix race], so we were able to sweep the poles at least here so far. Hopefully, we can do it more in the race. It matters a lot more then.”
Logano will share the front row with Kyle Larson, the latter of whom clocked in the second-fastest single-qualifying lap at 134.943 mph in 26.678 seconds. Logano’s teammate, Austin Cindric, qualified in third place with a lap at 134.675 mph in 26.731 seconds.
Daniel Suarez, who was the fastest competitor in practice, claimed the fourth starting spot with a lap at 134.610 mph in 26.744 seconds. Ryan Blaney, Penske’s third Cup competitor, posted his lap at 134.595 mph in 26.747 seconds to grab the fifth starting spot.
Ross Chastain, Carson Hocevar, Tyler Reddick, William Byron, and Josh Berry completed the top-10 starting grid.
Notably, Anthony Alfredo, who is subbing for Alex Bowman in the No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry, qualified in 31st place with a lap at 132.900 mph in 27.088 seconds. Bowman is currently sidelined due to a vertigo diagnosis. Bowman’s timeline for returning to competition remains to be determined.
In addition, Brad Keselowski was the lone competitor who did not post a qualifying time due to wrecking his primary car after he cut a right-front tire and slammed into the Turn 3 outside wall during Saturday’s practice session. Keselowski’s teammate, Chris Buescher, and Riley Herbst also had tire issues during practice, but both were able to keep their primary entries intact and qualify 17th and 22nd, respectively.
With 37 competitors vying for 37 starting spots, all made the main event.
Phoenix – Qualifying position, Best speed, Best time:
- Joey Logano, 135.537 mph, 26.561 seconds
- Kyle Larson, 134.943 mph, 26.678 seconds
- Austin Cindric. 134.675 mph, 26.731 seconds
- Daniel Suarez, 134.610 mph, 26.744 seconds
- Ryan Blaney, 134.595 mph, 26.747 seconds
- Ross Chastain, 134.544 mph, 26.757 seconds
- Carson Hocevar, 134.539 mph, 26.758 seconds
- Tyler Reddick, 134.394 mph, 26.787 seconds
- William Byron, 134.373 mph, 26.791 seconds
- Josh Berry, 134.258 mph, 26.814 seconds
- Denny Hamlin, 134.233 mph, 26.819 seconds
- Christopher Bell, 134.148 mph, 26.836 seconds
- Ryan Preece, 134.143 mph, 26.837 seconds
- Ty Gibbs, 134.128 mph, 26.840 seconds
- John Hunter Nemechek, 134.038 mph, 26.858 seconds
- Michael McDowell, 134.018 mph, 26.862 seconds
- Chris Buescher, 133.953 mph, 26.875 seconds
- Shane van Gisbergen, 133.939 mph, 26.878 seconds
- Connor Zilisch, 133.919 mph, 26.882 seconds
- Chase Briscoe, 133.844 mph, 26.897 seconds
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 133.834 mph, 26.899 seconds
- Riley Herbst, 133.819 mph, 26.902 seconds
- AJ Allmendinger, 133.804 mph, 26.905 seconds
- Zane Smith, 133,799 mph, 26.906 seconds
- Austin Dillon, 133.591 mph, 26.948 seconds
- Chase Elliott, 133.551 mph, 26.956 seconds
- Austin Hill, 133.536 mph, 26.959 seconds
- Bubba Wallace, 133.230 mph, 27.021 seconds
- Kyle Busch, 133.151 mph, 27.037 seconds
- Todd Gilliland, 133.131 mph, 27.041 seconds
- Anthony Alfredo, 132.900 mph, 27.088 seconds
- Erik Jones, 132.871 mph, 27.094 seconds
- Ty Dillon, 132.680 mph, 27.133 seconds
- Cody Ware, 132.441 mph, 27.182 seconds
- Noah Gragson, 132.319 mph, 27.207 seconds
- Cole Custer, 130.833 mph, 27.516 seconds
- Brad Keselowski, Did Not Qualify
The 2026 Straight Talk Wireless 500 at Phoenix Raceway is scheduled to occur on Sunday, March 8, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM, and HBO Max.
