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Martin Truex Jr. wins pole at Phoenix

Martin Truex Jr. during media day for the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
Martin Truex Jr. during media day for the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2018, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Martin Truex Jr. will start first for Sunday’s race at Phoenix.

Truex posted the fastest lap of the final round of qualifying to sneak past Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott for the top spot. It’s the first pole of the season for the 2017 champion, who scored three poles and eight wins a year ago.

The pole is Truex’s second at the one-mile track. Truex won his first pole at Phoenix in 2009 and finished fifth. He didn’t even lead a solitary lap in that race.

Last week’s winner Kevin Harvick finishes 10th. Harvick has been the toast and the talk of the 2018 Cup Series season, taking two of the first three races. But he was also penalized 20 points for post-race inspection failures following his Las Vegas win. Harvick’s penalty handed the points lead over to Joey Logano, who will start fifth.

Here’s the full starting lineup for Sunday’s race, which will begin just after 3:30 p.m. ET.

1. Martin Truex Jr.
2. Kyle Larson
3. Chase Elliott
4. Alex Bowman
5. Joey Logano
6. Denny Hamlin
7. Kyle Busch
8. Jamie McMurray
9. Erik Jones
10. Kevin Harvick
11. William Byron
12. Ryan Blaney
13. Ryan Newman
14. Paul Menard
15. Daniel Suarez
16. David Ragan
17. Jimmie Johnson
18. Austin Dillon
19. Clint Bowyer
20. AJ Allmendinger
21. Trevor Bayne
22. Aric Almirola
23. Kurt Busch
24. Chris Buescher
25. Brad Keselowski
26. Kasey Kahne
27. Darrell Wallace Jr.
28. Ty Dillon
29. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
30. Matt DiBenedetto
31. Michael McDowell
32. Gray Gaulding
33. Corey LaJoie
34. DJ Kennington
35. Timmy Hill
36. Ross Chastain
37. Jeffrey Earnhardt

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.