NASCAR: Bowman claims Phoenix pole with 88

Alex Bowman stormed to his first Coors Light Pole Award in Friday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying at Phoenix International Raceway.

Bowman, prepping for his eighth start in place of the injured Dale Earnhardt Jr., guided the Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet to a best lap of 140.521mph around the 1-mile track. The Arizona native's first pole position comes in the 80th start of his Sprint Cup career.

Kyle Larson posted the second-fastest lap, turning a 140.263mph qualifying pass in the final round in the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet. He'll start on the front row alongside Bowman in Sunday's Can-Am 500, the ninth of 10 events in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs.

Rookie Chase Elliott was third fastest at 140.236mph, completing a 1-2-3 sweep by drivers out of the eight-driver playoff picture.

Sunday's 312-lapper is the final race in the Round of 8 to determine the final four qualifiers for the Nov. 20 Championship 4 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Only Jimmie Johnson, who qualified 17th Friday, and Carl Edwards (11th) have clinched title shots, leaving two open spots up for grabs among the six remaining postseason hopefuls.

The rest of the Chase field's qualifying spots: Joey Logano (fourth), Denny Hamlin (fifth), Kevin Harvick (sixth), Matt Kenseth (10th), Kurt Busch (12th) and Kyle Busch (19th). Harvick, who tops the series with eight Phoenix victories, has won five of the last six races for the series on the Arizona oval.

Austin Dillon was second fastest in the opening round of qualifying, but committed a blend-line violation with an improper merge onto the racetrack early in the second round. It mattered little as last weekend's pole winner at Texas wound up seventh in Friday's qualifying in the desert.

Martin Truex Jr., whose Chase hopes ended in the Round of 12, will start last in the 40-car field after his Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota failed to make a lap. After a wreck with its primary car in Friday practice, the team had difficulties getting its reserve through inspection. The backup car cleared with roughly one minute left in the opening 20-minute round, and time ran out before Truex could get buckled in.

Tony Stewart, scheduled to run his final Sprint Cup race at Phoenix, just missed a chance at advancing past the first elimination in qualifying. His 137.825mph lap was just .014 seconds slower than Casey Mears, who took the 24th and final spot in the first round.