The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rolled out for qualifying for the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix Raceway (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) this afternoon, just hours before the green flag was scheduled to wave. The session was broken into three, multi-truck rounds. Round one would set positions 32 – 25 with 24 drivers advancing to round two. In round two, 12 drivers would advance to the final round while positions 13 – 24 would be set. The final round would set the pole position, as well as the rest of the top 12 starting positions.
Round one would be a clean round. The Round of 6 championship contenders would all lay down laps good enough to advance them into round two, with Christopher Bell taking the top spot with a speed of 133.949 mph. A handful of drivers clocked times of nearly three seconds or more off the top spot (Mike Senica, Ted Minor, Ray Ciccerelli, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Norm Benning) and they would fail to advance. Josh Reaume (126.868 mph) was the fastest driver that would not move on to round two. The other drivers failing to advance were Mike Harmon (125.879 mph) and Jordan Anderson (126.605 mph).
Advancing to round two, in order: Bell, John Hunter Nemechek, Austin Cindric, Matt Crafton, Todd Gilliland, Noah Gragson, Chase Briscoe, Ben Rhodes, Johnny Sauter, Cody Coughlin, Justin Haley, Grant Enfinger, Dalton Sargeant, Ryan Truex, Stuart Friesen, Kaz Grala, Austin Hill, Joe Nemechek, T.J. Bell, Robby Lyons, Bayley Currey, Jesse Little, Austin Wayne Self, Jason Hathaway.
Early in round two, playoff drivers dominated the top of the speed chart. Ryan Truex would lay down a lap that looked as though it may not be fast enough to advance him to the final round. ARCA regular Dalton Sargeant had a decent lap, but would not be fast enough to advance. Notables Kaz Grala and Justin Haley would fall in line behind Sargeant on the speed chart and also fail to advance. Truex would make a run within the last minute of the round that would improve his previous time enough to advance him to the final round.
Christopher Bell (135.849 mph) would once again hold the top spot, sweeping the first two rounds of qualifying. Drivers failing to advance were: Little (No Attempt), Hathaway (127.132 mph), Self (127.859 mph), Currey (128.388 mph), Lyons (129.046 mph), Joe Nemechek (129.097 mph), T.J. Bell (129.315 mph), Hill (130.605 mph), Haley (132.445 mph), Grala (132.787 mph), Sargeant (133.087 mph), Coughlin (133.205 mph).
Drivers advancing to the final round of qualifying, in order: Christopher Bell, Gragson, Rhodes, Crafton, Cindric, John Hunter Nemechek, Sauter, Gilliland, Truex, Friesen, Enfinger, Briscoe.
Final round qualifying would be a five minute dash to see which driver would earn the pole, and which drivers would start inside the top 12 positions. This round would be very important due to the fact that 24 of the 26 NCWTS races held at Phoenix Raceway have been won from drivers starting within the top 10 positions.
The start of the round saw a flurry of action on the track, as nearly all 12 drivers took to the track one after the other. Christopher Bell would set the top speed early and no one would challenge. Bell’s speed of 137.012 mph topped second place qualifier Noah Gragson by 1.393 mph, or .27 seconds. It would be Bell’s fifth career pole and fifth pole of the season. It is his first pole at Phoenix. Christopher swept all three rounds of qualifying.
Top 12 qualifiers, in order: Bell, Gragson (135.619 mph), Rhodes (135.359 mph), Crafton (135.318 mph), Gilliland (135.014 mph), Nemechek (134.812 mph), Cindric (134.645 mph), Briscoe (134.323 mph), Enfinger (133.740 mph), Sauter (133.556 mph), Turex (133.462 mph), Friesen (133.146 mph).
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series runs the Lucas Oil 150 tonight, November 10, at Phoenix Raceway. (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
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