Alex Bowman Reels In Pole For Xfinity Race at Phoenix

Alex Bowman captured the pole for Saturday’s GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway. (Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

AVONDALE, Ariz. — The hometown native of Tuscon, Arizona, secured the pole position early Saturday morning for the NASCAR Xfinity Series as Alex Bowman thundered to his fourth career pole award in the series, allowing him to lead the field to green in the GOVX 200 for Saturday afternoon’s race at Phoenix Raceway.

The NASCAR Cup Series regular is capitalizing his weekend as this will be his only start this season in the Xfinity Series with Hendrick Motorsports, as he will line up alongside Sheldon Creed on the front row for the 200-lap event.

Bowman shot around the one-mile dogleg oval with a time of 27.276, equaling out to a speed of 131.984 mph.

Alex Bowman takes the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet to the track at Phoenix Raceway. (Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)

All 38 cars that attempted to qualify for Saturday’s contest have successfully made it into the show.

The JR Motorsports duo of Sammy Smith, who won his first career Xfinity Series race at the track in 2023, and last week’s race winner at Circuit Of The Americas, Connor Zilisch, start third and fourth, respectively.

Jesse Love continues to impress early in his sophomore Xfinity Series season by qualifying his No. 2 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing in fifth.

William Sawalich recovered from nearly spinning in Turn 4 on his out lap to qualify sixth, followed by Nick Sanchez (No.48), Aric Almirola (No.19), Taylor Gray (No.54), and Austin Hill (No.21), who rounded out the rest of the top 10 in qualifying.

Defending Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier will be relegated to a 14th-place starting spot despite being the quickest car in practice in the No. 7 Brandt Chevrolet for JR Motorsports.

Bowman’s most recent Xfinity Series start came with Hendrick Motorsports last June at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, finishing ninth for the No. 17 camp.

“Honestly, I didn’t feel like it was the greatest lap,” Bowman said in a post-qualifying interview.

“I missed my entry into Turn 1 a bit and got myself a bit tight, but I’m just really happy with the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro so far. These (NASCAR) Xfinity Series cars are really fun to drive. It’s just been a lot of fun so far.”

Bowman was additionally asked if the track would change much with the amount of rubber being put down on the track surface from the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying sessions before the drop of the green flag for the Xfinity Series race on Saturday afternoon as well as his excitement to take full advantage of his one off Xfinity Series start.

“I would assume it would widen out a bit, like we’ve seen over the years. The apron comes into play a lot in Turns 1 and 2, and the top still comes into play, but looking forward to it. During practice, I was in a little bit of traffic, but these cars are so much fun to drive, and I’m excited about it. Like I said, I think we’re a little bit tighter than we need to be, but we will make some adjustments and go from there.”

The GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway will air live on The CW at 5:00 pm EST.

GOVX 200 Phoenix Raceway Qualifying Results