Blaney wins Busch Light Pole Award at Phoenix; points leader Larson starts 22nd

Ryan Blaney will lead the field to green for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Race at Phoenix Raceway (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) – the 33rd race of the 2026 season – as points leader Kyle Larson suffered his first postseason slipup. The No. 12 Team Penske driver – and 2023 series champion – earned his 17th career Busch Light Pole Award Saturday afternoon after putting down a hot lap of 137.143 mph around the 1-mile oval in the Arizona desert. Joey Logano, Blaney's Team Penske teammate, locked out the front row for the organization and will start second after a 136.976 mph circuit. RELATED: Starting lineup | Phoenix weekend schedule Joe Gibbs Racing earned the remaining top-five starting spots with Chase Briscoe (136.825 mph), Denny Hamlin (136.809 mph) and Christopher Bell (136.617 mph). All eyes turned to series leader Larson, who struggled in both practice and qualifying. Larson had a nerve-wracking moment entering Turns 1 and 2 on his qualifying lap as the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was loose on corner entry and couldn't find grip, seeing his lap time plummet to 22nd on the board. It's Larson's worst qualifying effort (non-metric based) since Richmond Raceway in August, and worst in The Chase presented by Mobil 1 so far. Tyler Reddick (136.374 mph), Ty Gibbs (136.291 mph), Michael McDowell (136.199 mph), Josh Berry (136.142 mph) and William Byron (135.936 mph) completed the top 10 on the starting grid for Sunday's Freeway Insurance 500. Practice Blaney logged the quickest lap in Saturday's 50-minute practice session. The No. 12 Team Penske Ford laid down a best circuit of 133.487 mph and ran 77 laps around the 1-mile oval. Fellow Chase drivers Carson Hocevar (133.433 mph), Joey Logano (133.259 mph), Denny Hamlin (132.91 mph) and Christopher Bell (132.841 mph) were the five quickest on single-lap time. MORE: Practice results Bell was quickest on all consecutive runs that were 10-plus laps, while Hocevar had the best time on the five-consecutive lap average. Larson was only 13th quickest in practice and only mustered 10th and ninth best in the 25- and 30-consecutive-lap averages at Phoenix.