AVONDALE, Ariz. — Report by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — Photo courtesy Toyota Racing —
For the third consecutive race week, Joe Gibbs Racing left their stamp on NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) Coors Light Pole Qualifying in a big way.
Led by reigning NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion and NXS rookie Erik Jones, the team swept the top three spots on the time sheets and asserted their undisputed dominance once again ahead of Saturday afternoon’s Axalta Faster. Tougher. Brighter. 200 (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM).
Jones led the final two rounds of knockout qualifying, but it was his time of 26.318 seconds (136.789 mph) in the third and final session that garnered him his fourth career 21 Means 21 Pole Award and first of the season — breaking a two-race string of poles by his JGR teammate Kyle Busch.
The Byron, Mich. native ran two laps in the final round, and explained after winning the pole that he knew “pretty much from the start” that the second of those laps was going to be the money lap.
“I think we knew … we were going to have to run two laps, no matter how the first lap went,” Jones said. “Yes, everyone ran two laps, but we had planned on it from the beginning. Just a great Reser’s Camry, though. I knew we had a car that could get the pole; it was just a matter of executing in the final round, which we did.”
“I’m really excited; I think we’ve got a car that can run with Kyle in the race, and really everyone else in the field as well. Just ready to get the race itself going this afternoon.”
Jones’ fellow rookie teammate, Daniel Suarez, posted the second-fastest time (26.346/136.643) in the final round and will start on the front row alongside his teammate after leading the opening 20-minute round.
“We have fast race cars (at Joe Gibbs Racing) right now, that’s for sure,” Suarez said. “The team did an amazing job preparing our Toyota. We learned a lot in this qualifying session … for the race, and I feel like we have a big shot to go after our first win today.”
Busch ended up third (26.390/136.415) at the end of the pole-deciding, five minute session to complete the top three sweep for JGR. The result marks the first time in XFINITY Series history that one team has swept the top three spots in qualifying three consecutive weeks.
Ty Dillon, Chase Elliott and Austin Dillon made up a Chevrolet trio that qualified in positions four through six for the 200-mile race.
Brad Keselowski was the fastest Ford in seventh, with Brandon Jones, Darrell Wallace Jr., Justin Allgaier, Brendan Gaughan and Blake Koch rounding out the 12 drivers who advanced through all three knockout rounds. Koch’s appearance in the pole round was the first of his career.
Ryan Reed was the first car to miss transferring to the final round — a surprising twist after the young Roush Fenway Racing pilot posted a stellar lap of 26.960 seconds (133.531 mph) and still ended up 13th on the final time sheets.
Despite that, however, Reed still feels confident about his chances in race trim.
“I feel really good (going into the race),” Reed smiled. “I wasn’t that confident after yesterday (in practice), but (crew chief) Phil (Gould) made a lot of great adjustments that helped us out. I felt like we had to make two runs in the first round (in order to transfer), and that cost us some in round two … but I feel like it’s going to be a fun race.”
“We’ll put on a good show — we always race so much better than we qualify — so to see the speed improvement (in qualifying) from last time we were here gives me a lot more confidence than I had.”
Other notables who failed to make the third and final knockout round included Jeb Burton (15th), Elliott Sadler (16th) and Spencer Gallagher (18th), who is making his XFINITY debut this weekend.
The cutoff at the end of the first round was excruciating for Florida’s Ray Black Jr., who posted an identical time of 27.395 seconds (131.411 mph) to 24th-place David Starr, but lost out on transferring to round two by virtue of a tiebreaker. Starr’s machine is higher in owner points than Black’s, and as such received the nod on the grid.
The only incident in qualifying came with just over 10 minutes to go in round one, when Ryan Ellis smacked the wall with his No. 15 Ford for Rick Ware Racing. The team was able to take an owner points provisional to make the field, but has a lot of work to do to get the rear end of the car repaired before race time.
RESULTS: NASCAR XFINITY Series; Coors Light Pole Qualifying; Phoenix International Raceway; March 12, 2016
- Erik Jones
- Daniel Suarez
- Kyle Busch
- Ty Dillon
- Chase Elliott
- Austin Dillon
- Brad Keselowski
- Brandon Jones
- Darrell Wallace Jr.
- Justin Allgaier
- Brendan Gaughan
- Blake Koch
- Ryan Reed
- Justin Marks
- Jeb Burton
- Elliott Sadler
- Brennan Poole
- Spencer Gallagher
- Ross Chastain
- Jeremy Clements
- Ryan Sieg
- David Starr
- J.J. Yeley
- Ryan Preece
- Ray Black Jr.
- Dakoda Armstrong
- T.J. Bell
- Dylan Lupton
- Jeff Green
- Morgan Shepherd
- Timmy Hill
- Mario Gosselin
- D.J. Kennington
- Garrett Smithley
- B.J. McLeod
- Joey Gase
- Derrike Cope
- Harrison Rhodes
- Mike Harmon
- Ryan Ellis
DNQ: Josh Reaume, Todd Peck
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 22-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: speed77radio@gmail.com
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
Email Race Chaser Online: news@racechaseronline.com
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