Truex Grabs Busch Pole For Final Race Of Full-Time Career

Martin Truex Jr. celebrates the Busch Light Pole Award Saturday at Phoenix Raceway. (HHP/Jacy Norgaard photo)

AVONDALE, Ariz. – In his final race as a full-time driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, Martin Truex Jr. will lead the field to green for Sunday afternoon’s season finale at Phoenix Raceway.

The 43-year-old edged out Championship 4 contender Joey Logano with a 26.718-second lap (134.741 mph) around the one-mile desert oval with his Joe Gibbs Racing-prepared No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE.

Truex was .01 seconds quicker than Logano for the 25th Busch Light Pole Award of his 20-year Cup Series career, marking the second consecutive week he’s won the pole following a similar effort at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

Saturday was also Truex’s third pole at Phoenix and first at the track since 2018.

“It would be amazing to convert this [pole] into a win; that’s what we’ve been trying for all year, so we’ll see how it goes,” said Truex. “Obviously, a good job today by all my guys, and it feels good to be starting at the front. Hopefully this time, we can finish there.”

Joining Truex on the front row will be Logano, who was fastest among the Group B qualifiers in the pole shootout and starts on the outside pole for the second time this season. His lap in the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Team Penske was 26.728 seconds (134.690 mph).

Third through seventh were drivers hoping to also play spoiler Sunday, with Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, and Christopher Bell earning those grid positions.

William Byron will start eighth as the second highest title contender, followed by Harrison Burton and Tyler Reddick, the third of the Championship 4 who rebounded in speed and will start 10th after being 21st in practice on Friday.

Austin Cindric (Group B) and Chase Briscoe (Group A) were the first drivers in their respective qualifying groups that failed to transfer out of the first round. They’ll start 11th and 12th, respectively.

Martinsville winner Ryan Blaney will start 17th, worst among the championship hopefuls, after struggling with corner handling and speed during the first round of qualifying.

“Unfortunately I was one of the drivers who had issues in [turns] one and two. My corner entry was good, but I got loose on the corner exit and I gave all the time up,” said Blaney. “I thought I got into the corner okay, I didn’t get loose initially, but as it loaded in the center it stepped out and there was no getting it back after that.”

“I think we’ll be fine in the race; we’ll just have to have a car that can drive toward the front.”

The 30-year-old is no stranger to driving through the field in order to get to the front. He did it in the biggest moment of his career at Phoenix one year ago, starting 15th and finishing second en route to the 2023 Cup Series title.

“We started in a pretty similar spot here last year, and we won the championship, so we’ll try to approach this the same way,” said Blaney. “You have to be a little careful just so you don’t pick up any weird damage. We start in different places all over the field all the time, so I don’t think it’s as big a deal as people might make it out to be.”

“We’ll focus on getting through the first two corners and then, hopefully, work our way forward.”

As for Truex, who will start from pole on a day the NASCAR industry and race fans will honor him, it’s about taking in each moment as they come.

“You somewhat train yourself to put the blinders on in big situations when you’re at this level. I’ve been through Championship 4s and playoff runs, championship runs, and all that can be stressful,” said Truex. “This here, this weekend, is just fun and I’m trying to enjoy every minute of it.”

Broadcast coverage of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series championship race at Phoenix is slated for 3 p.m. ET, live on NBC, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.