NASCAR: 2018 TicketGuardian 500 qualifying results
By Asher Fair
The qualifying session for the TicketGuardian 500 resulted in the fourth different polesitter in four NASCAR Cup Series races so far in the 2018 season.
The TicketGuardian 500, which is the fourth of 36 races on the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, is set to take place this Sunday at the four-turn, 1.0-mile dogleg ISM Raceway oval in Avondale, Arizona.
Martin Truex Jr. is set to start that race, which is scheduled to be a 312-lap race, from the pole position in his #78 Toyota for Furniture Row Racing. By qualifying on pole for the race, he became the fourth different polesitter in four races so far this season.
Truex Jr. joins Alex Bowman, who took the pole position in Daytona, Kyle Busch, who took the pole position in Atlanta, and Ryan Blaney, who took the pole position in Las Vegas, as the 2018 Cup Series season’s four polesitters thus far in the 2018 season.
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In addition to a solid run by the other top Toyota drivers, including the Joe Gibbs Racing drivers of Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Erik Jones, who qualified in 6th, 7th and 9th place, respectively, the qualifying session featured somewhat of a resurgence for the top Chevrolet teams.
Kyle Larson has really been the only consistent Chevrolet driver so far this season in his #42 Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing. He continued that trend by qualifying in 2nd place beside Truex Jr. for the race.
Aside of Alex Bowman taking the pole position for the Daytona 500, Hendrick Motorsports’ drivers have had forgettable starts to the season. However, Chase Elliott and Bowman qualified in 3rd and 4th place, respectively, to give Chevrolet drivers three of the top four spots on tomorrow’s starting grid.
The highest qualifying Ford driver for the race was Team Penske’s Joey Logano, who qualified in 5th place.
Here are the full qualifying results for the TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway.
| Rank | Driver | Car, Team, Manufacturer |
| 1 | Martin Truex Jr. | #78, Furniture Row Racing, Toyota |
| 2 | Kyle Larson | #42, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet |
| 3 | Chase Elliott | #9, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 4 | Alex Bowman | #88, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 5 | Joey Logano | #22, Team Penske, Ford |
| 6 | Denny Hamlin | #11, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 7 | Kyle Busch | #18, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 8 | Jamie McMurray | #1, Chip Ganassi Racing, Chevrolet |
| 9 | Erik Jones | #20, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 10 | Kevin Harvick | #4, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 11 | William Byron | #24, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 12 | Ryan Blaney | #12, Team Penske, Ford |
| 13 | Ryan Newman | #31, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet |
| 14 | Paul Menard | #21, Wood Brothers Racing, Ford |
| 15 | Daniel Suarez | #19, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota |
| 16 | David Ragan | #38, Front Row Motorsports, Ford |
| 17 | Jimmie Johnson | #48, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 18 | Austin Dillon | #3, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet |
| 19 | Clint Bowyer | #14, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 20 | A.J. Allmendinger | #47, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet |
| 21 | Trevor Bayne | #6, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford |
| 22 | Aric Almirola | #10, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 23 | Kurt Busch | #41, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford |
| 24 | Chris Buescher | #37, JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet |
| 25 | Brad Keselowski | #2, Team Penske, Ford |
| 26 | Kasey Kahne | #95, Leavine Family Racing, Chevrolet |
| 27 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | #43, Richard Petty Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 28 | Ty Dillon | #13, Germain Racing, Chevrolet |
| 29 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | #17, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford |
| 30 | Matt DiBenedetto | #32, Go Fas Racing, Ford |
| 31 | Michael McDowell | #34, Front Row Motorsports, Ford |
| 32 | Gray Gaulding | #23, BK Racing, Toyota |
| 33 | Corey Lajoie | #72, TriStar Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 34 | D.J. Kennington | #96, Gaunt Brothers Racing, Toyota |
| 35 | Timmy Hill | #51, Rick Ware Racing, Chevrolet |
| 36 | Ross Chastain | #15, Premium Motorsports, Chevrolet |
| 37 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | #00, StarCom Racing, Chevrolet |
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Be sure not to miss the TicketGuardian 500 this Sunday, March 11th. The 312-lap race is set to be broadcast live from ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona starting at 3:30 pm ET on Fox.