Chasers on front row as Edwards, Truex lead quals (cont'd)

Burton was among a cluster of Chasers toward the end of the qualifying order, and the AT&T Mobility Chevrolet clocked in 12th at 27.286 seconds, 131.936 mph.

Denny Hamlin is another Chaser without a lot of laps at PIR, but he's done well nonetheless. He certainly qualifies well (8.0 average in four starts) and he has third-place runs the past two races there for an average finish of 13.3, sixth in the Chase.

Hamlin will start 15th on Sunday after a lap at 27.362 seconds, 131.569 mph in the FedEx Chevrolet.

Matt Kenseth is one of the seven Chasers to have won at Phoenix, logging his victory back in 2002. In 10 starts, he has four top-five and five top-10 finishes -- and four finishes of 32nd or worse, including a pair of 42nd-place results. Those finishes put his average at 18.4, next-to-last among the Chasers.

He was 18th on Friday, posting a lap at 27.367 seconds, 131.545 mph in the DeWalt Ford Fusion. He was 12th in practice, and picked up a tenth in qualifying.

Clint Bowyer, the only driver not named Gordon or Johnson with a chance at the title, is still seeking to better his fifth-place run in the spring of 2006. He has finishes of 22nd, 22nd and 33rd to go with the top-five run. As expected, his average finish in four races is a Chase-worst 20.5.

Bowyer will start 20th on Sunday after his lap at 27.397 seconds, 131.401 mph in the Jack Daniel's Chevy.

Tony Stewart won his Phoenix debut in a Nextel Cup car back in 1999, and has been chasing a return trip to Victory Lane ever since. He has five top-five and seven top-10 finishes in his 11 starts there, and has been second in two of the last three PIR races. In the spring, he led 132 laps before Gordon got past him in the latter stages to snatch the victory.

Stewart's average finish of 9.9 is third behind Johnson and Gordon. His lap at 27.401 seconds, 131.382 mph in the Home Depot Chevrolet was three-tenths faster than he practiced and good for 21st on Sunday.

Harvick, winner of two of the last three Phoenix races, was a startling 37th in practice earlier Friday. In nine starts, Harvick has two victories, three top-five and four top-10 finishes, and his average finish of 14.0 is eighth in the Chase.

His lap at 27.593 seconds, 130.468 mph in the Shell-Pennzoil Chevy was good for 34th. That was two-tenths better than he practiced.

Kyle Busch earned his first career Cup victory at PIR in the fall of 2005. Since that triumph, he's finished 36th, 38th and seventh. He has an average finish of 18.0, tied with Truex Jr. for ninth in the Chase.

While he was a top-10 car in the practice session earlier in the day, it didn't translate to the qualifying lap. Busch was slowest among the Chasers at 27.703 seconds, 129.950 mph, nearly three tenths slower than he was in practice in the Kellogg's Chevrolet. That puts him 38th for Sunday.

Seven Chase drivers were in the top 10 in practice, led by Edwards and including Hamlin, Johnson, Kenseth, Bowyer and the Busch brothers. Gordon was 14th, Burton 23rd, Stewart 27th and Truex 32nd.