Joey Logano Earns Pole; Completes Indy-NASCAR Phoenix Pole Sweep

It’s been a “Penske Perfect” weekend for Team Penske at Phoenix Raceway.

After earning the pole position for this weekend’s NTT IndyCar Series event at the one-mile oval, courtesy of the team’s newest driver, David Malukus, Team Penske veteran and three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion snagged the pole for Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 500.

Logano took to the racetrack fairly late in Saturday’s single-vehicle qualifying session and absolutely SMASHED the lap time of his teammate Austin Cindric, laying down a time of 26.561 seconds, to earn the pole by more than a tenth of a second.

Defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson, driving the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, was able to interject himself between the two Penske teammates and will start Sunday’s event from the outside of the front row.

Austin Cindric, who showed immense speed in practice (especially on the long run), will roll from third on Sunday, with practice leader Daniel Suarez fourth, and the third of the Team Penske drivers, Ryan Blaney, rounding out the top five.

Ross Chastain will roll from sixth, with Carson Hocevar behind in seventh. Tyler Reddick, looking to collect a record-extending fourth straight win to begin the NASCAR Cup Series campaign, will start from eighth. William Byron and Josh Berry also collected top 10 starting positions.

Other notables starting outside of the top 10 include Denny Hamlin (P11), Christopher Bell (P12), Chase Briscoe (P20), Chase Elliott (P26), and Kyle Busch (P29). Anthony Alfredo, serving as a fill-in driver for Alex Bowman in the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro, will start from 31st.

Brad Keselowski was the only driver that didn’t post a time in qualifying, after the No. 6 Consumer Cellular Ford Mustang Dark Horse blew a right-front tire and crashed in practice, forcing RFK Racing to unload a backup car for Sunday’s event.

The Straight Talk Wireless 500 will take place Sunday, March 8 at 3:00 PM ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

Straight Talk Wireless 500 Starting Lineup:

1. #22 – Joey Logano
2. #5 – Kyle Larson
3. #2 – Austin Cindric
4. #7 – Daniel Suarez
5. #12 – Ryan Blaney
6. #1 – Ross Chastain
7. #77 – Carson Hocevar
8. #45 – Tyler Reddick
9. #24 – William Byron
10. #21 – Josh Berry
11. #11 – Denny Hamlin
12. #20 – Christopher Bell
13. #60 – Ryan Preece
14. #54 – Ty Gibbs
15. #42 – John Hunter Nemechek
16. #71 – Michael McDowell
17. #17 – Chris Buescher
18. #97 – Shane Van Gisbergen
19. #88 – Connor Zilisch
20. #19 – Chase Briscoe
21. #47 – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
22. #35 – Riley Herbst
23. #16 – AJ Allmendinger
24. #38 – Zane Smith
25. #3 – Austin Dillon
26. #9 – Chase Elliott
27. #33 – Austin Hill
28. #23 – Bubba Wallace
29. #8 – Kyle Busch
30. #34 – Todd Gilliland
31. #48 – Anthony Alfredo
32. #43 – Erik Jones
33. #10 – Ty Dillon
34. #51 – Cody Ware
35. #4 – Noah Gragson
36. #41 – Cole Custer
37. #6 – Brad Keselowski