It's the final face for Martin Truex Jr. The retiring Joe Gibbs Racing driver secured the pole position in Saturday's qualifying session for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. Truex, the 2017 series champion, posted a lap time of 134.741 mph, edging out two-time champion Joey Logano by a mere 0.01 seconds. This is Truex’s second pole in consecutive weeks, as he also took the top spot during the Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway.
Logano will start alongside Truex from the outside of the front row. Of the final four championship contenders, William Byron will start in 8th (134.128 mph), Tyler Reddick in 10th (134.118 mph), and Ryan Blaney in 17th (134.263 mph). Blaney, however, recorded the fastest lap during the 50-minute practice session with a speed of 132.48 mph.
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Bell's reaction
Christopher Bell shared his frustration about not making it into Sunday’s Championship 4. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver expressed feeling "cheated" after a controversial incident at Martinsville, where he moved out of Bubba Wallace's way, believing Wallace had a flat tire. Bell’s defensive maneuver caused him to scrape the wall on the final turn, similar to the "Hail Melon" move made famous by Ross Chastain in 2022.
After a lengthy review, NASCAR officials disqualified Bell from the playoffs, allowing William Byron to take his place in the Championship 4.
"My intentions were never to ride the wall; I didn’t gain an advantage riding the wall. I don’t believe I broke a rule. I feel cheated. I feel cheated out of the chance to compete for a championship, and it all started whenever the race got fixed and manipulated by Chevrolet. I feel like I should have never been in that situation. Had the race been run fairly, (Byron) would have lost enough spots to get me into the final race," Bill said as quoted by AP.
Bell had made the Championship 4 in each of the previous two seasons.
Starting Lineup for NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race
Here is a look at the lineup for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway:
Starting Position, Driver, Car No., Team
1, Martin Truex Jr., 19, Joe Gibbs Racing
2, Joey Logano, 22, Team Penske
3, Ross Chastain, 1, Trackhouse Racing
4, Kyle Larson, 5, Hendrick Motorsports
5, Chase Elliott, 9, Hendrick Motorsports
6, Ty Gibbs, 54, Joe Gibbs Racing
7, Christopher Bell, 20, Joe Gibbs Racing
8, William Byron, 24, Hendrick Motorsports
9, Harrison Burton, 21, Wood Brothers Racing
10, Tyler Reddick, 45, 23XI Racing
11, Austin Cindric, 2, Team Penske
12, Chase Briscoe, 14, Stewart-Haas Racing
13, Justin Haley, 7, Spire Motorsports
14, Denny Hamlin, 11, Joe Gibbs Racing
15, Carson Hocevar, 77, Spire Motorsports
16, Alex Bowman, 48, Hendrick Motorsports
17, Ryan Blaney, 12, Team Penske
18, John Hunter Nemechek, 42, Legacy Motor Club
19, Erik Jones, 43, Legacy Motor Club
20, Corey LaJoie, 51, Rick Ware Racing
21, Noah Gragson, 10, Stewart-Haas Racing
22, Daniel Hemric, 31, Kaulig Racing
23, Jimmie Johnson, 84, Legacy Motor Club
24, Chris Buescher, 17, RFK Racing
25, Kyle Busch, 8, Richard Childress Racing
26, Derek Kraus, 16, Kaulig Racing
27, Brad Keselowski, 6, RFK Racing
28, Zane Smith, 71, Spire Motorsports
29, Bubba Wallace, 23, 23XI Racing
30, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 47, JTG Daugherty Racing
31, Kaz Grala, 15, Rick Ware Racing
32, Todd Gilliland, 38, Front Row Motorsports
33, Ryan Preece, 41, Stewart-Haas Racing
34, Daniel Suarez, 99, Trackhouse Racing
35, Michael McDowell, 34, Front Row Motorsports
36, Austin Dillon, 3, Richard Childress Racing
37, JJ Yeley, 44, NY Racing Team
38, Chad Finchum, 66, Power Source
39, Josh Berry, 4, Stewart-Haas Racing
40, Jeb Burton, 50, Team AmeriVet
