"I’m trying to win the race, too," Dillon said after finishing sixth in his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. "There’s two on the track … needless to say, we’ve gotten into each other before and I might race him a little bit harder because of what he did to me a couple of years ago. Until I feel like we’re on equal playing ground again, I’m still going to race him hard."

Elliott, the defending XFINITY Series champion, and Dillon made contact in Turn 2 on Lap 139 of the 200-lap race as the pair were battling for sixth place. While Dillon’s entry appeared undamaged, Elliott spun off the banking and onto the apron, necessitating a trip to pit road under caution.
 
The stop dropped the JR Motorsports driver outside the top 15 on the restart, but he was able to fight his way back to finish seventh in the closing laps.
 
"I like Chase outside the car, he’s a good dude," Dillon said. "But he took me out of the championship two years ago and I think he still needs to understand that I haven’t forgotten."
 
Dillon was leading coming to the checkered flag in the Camping World Truck Series event at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in 2013 when Elliott shot to his inside in the final turn and spun the leader out.
 
Elliott, running a limited schedule at the time, won the event. Afterward, in Victory Lane, the son of 1988 premier series champ Bill Elliott seemed apologetic for the contact, saying "That’s not how I race and it’s never been how I’ve raced before. I had a shot. … Sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to try to get to Victory Lane."
 
Dillon was fourth in points at the time, trailing leader Matt Crafton by 58. The incident, and 17th-place finish, dropped him 63 behind the leader.
 
Immediately following Saturday’s incident at PIR, Elliott told his crew via radio he felt Dillon pinched him down on the track.
 
Dillon moved atop the points standings with his finish, and leads second-place Chris Buescher (Roush Fenway Racing) by 14 (156-143) after four races.
 
Elliott improved one position, from fifth to a tie for fourth, and is 25 points out of the lead.
 
"Whether or not it was either one of us driving in too hard, driving hard, we’re both racing hard, we both want to win this championship," Dillon said.
 
"I expect him to stick it in there, but I’m going to hold it there. That’s what I expect out of him for many more years so hopefully we’ll race each other in (Sprint) Cup and race for championships the same way and bring back a little bit more excitement to the sport."

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Coors Light Pole Award winner Joey Logano had the first pick of stalls on pit road. The reigning Daytona 500 champion selected the stall closest to the exit of pit road, giving him a speedy departure during pit stops.

Outside pole-sitter Kevin Harvick chose a stall with an empty spot in front of it, lessoning that chance that he will get blocked in on pit road.

The first stall on pit road was not selected, but Elliott Sadler chose the second stall onto pit road.

The Axalta Faster. Tougher. Brighter 200 at Phoenix begins at 4 p.m. ET with coverage on FOX.

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Logano had reason to be frustrated. He had finished second in his last four XFINITY Series starts, the last three after winning the pole. And the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford hadn’t been to Victory Lane in the series since Sept. 28, 2013 at Dover International Speedway.

On Saturday, however, Logano won the pole and closed the deal. Though race runner-up Matt Kenseth dogged his rear bumper all day long and closed to .294 seconds at the finish, he couldn’t catch the No. 22 Ford, which led 176 of the 200 laps at the one-mile track.

"It felt good," said Logano, who collected his second win at Phoenix and the 22nd of his career. "It took a long time to get our next win. We’ve been so close to winning — obviously, a lot of poles and things are going well. We just needed a little more speed, and it was awesome to get it today."

Logano, who posted the second perfect driver rating of his career, pulled away after a restart on Lap 144 and stayed out front the rest of the way, with Kenseth in close pursuit.

"I was able to take off faster on restarts and get a nice lead and then Matt’s car was looser than mine, so that is why I was able to get a lead," Logano said. "Once we started running a few laps, I would get tight and he would start catching up to me because his balance was a little more free.

"I kept hoping for lapped traffic, because I was better in traffic, and that’s where I made up time."

Kenseth said he thought he had a better car for the longer runs, but traffic and dirty air proved his downfall.

"For whatever reason, after our last pit stop, we just didn’t fire off as fast," Kenseth said. "I had way less grip than (after) every other pit stop. … He (Logano) got away pretty good, and then when it was time to go, I just got tight running him down with all the lapped cars, and I couldn’t quite get there."

Kevin Harvick ran third, followed by Austin Dillon and Erik Jones, subbing for injured Kyle Busch in the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Ty Dillon came home sixth and retained the series lead by 14 points over 14th-place finisher Chris Buescher.

The NASCAR XFINITY Series will be back on track next weekend at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.

Contributing: Staff reports

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Smith, last year’s runner-up in the series, piloted the JR Motorsports No. 7 Chevrolet to a fast lap of 133.680 mph on the 1-mile track just outside the Arizona capital. He edged the Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevrolet of Ty Dillon, the series points leader who clocked a 133.650 mph lap — just six thousandths of a second slower than Smith’s.

Smith said his team usually doesn’t make mock qualifying runs, but did so Friday in hopes of landing a better pit selection and track position in Saturday’s Coors Light Pole Qualifying. He said his prime concern was gaining some performance edge on Joey Logano, who wheeled the Team Penske No. 22 Ford to the fastest lap in opening practice and set the best 10-lap average in final practice.

"Pleased with the car; it was good in race trim," Smith said. "We need a little bit compared to the 22 and I think we’ll be OK. Looking forward to it."

Chase Elliott, who clinched the 2014 series championship at Phoenix with one race remaining in the season, was third-fastest in the JR Motorsports No. 9, completing a 1-2-3 sweep by Chevrolets at the top of the charts. Rookie Daniel Suarez and Austin Dillon, last week’s XFINITY winner, rounded out the top five in final practice for Saturday’s Axalta Faster. Tougher. Brighter. 200 (4 p.m. ET, FOX).

Eighth-fastest Erik Jones, subbing for the injured Kyle Busch in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 Toyota, had an adventurous moment in the early stages of the 85-minute session when smoke emerged from behind his car’s dashboard. His crew removed the dash to remedy an electrical problem, and Jones returned to the track without further issues.

Harrison Rhodes‘ spin off Turn 2 with 21 minutes left brought out the session’s only stoppage.

Coors Light Pole Qualifying for the XFINITY Series is scheduled Saturday at 12:45 p.m. ET (FOX Sports 1).

Logano launches to fast lap in opening XFINITY practice

Joey Logano set the early pace in the opening NASCAR XFINITY Series practice Friday at Phoenix International Raceway.

Logano, making his second XFINITY start of the year driving the Team Penske No. 22 Ford, posted a fast lap of 131.685 mph in the opening 55-minute session. It matched his early Friday performance in the Sprint Cup Series, where he also topped the first practice leaderboard.

"It’s been a few years since I’ve driven an XFINITY car here, so it took a second to get used to driving one of these things again," said Logano, this year’s Daytona 500 winner. "These guys brought a fast piece, so just trying to tune it in a little here and a little there to make sure we’re good for the race. Obviously, we’ve got some speed; we just got to make sure we race well."

Kevin Harvick, behind the wheel of the JR Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet, was second-fastest at 131.444 mph on the one-mile track. Regan Smith, Harvick’s JRM teammate in the No. 7 Chevy, was third-fastest at 131.339 mph with Matt Kenseth and Brian Scott completing the top five.

Erik Jones registered the sixth-fastest lap as a substitute for the injured Kyle Busch, who suffered multiple lower-leg fractures in the XFINITY Series opener at Daytona International Speedway.

Austin Dillon, last week’s winner in the XFINITY Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, was seventh-fastest. Defending series champion Chase Elliott secured the eighth-fastest lap with current XFINITY points leader Ty Dillon logging the ninth-best lap in preparation for Saturday’s Axalta Faster. Tougher. Brighter. 200 (4 p.m. ET, FOX).

The session was slowed by two stoppages for debris.

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