NASCAR Phoenix 2014 qualifying results: Denny Hamlin wins pole; Brad Keselowski 2nd

In one of the most important qualifying sessions of the year, Denny Hamlin prevailed Friday, winning the pole for Sunday’s Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Circling the one-mile oval at 142.113 miles per hour, Hamlin secured the No. 1 starting position in what is the deciding race to set the four-driver field for next week’s championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Entering Phoenix tied with Joey Logano for the series points, Hamlin needs to finish 11th or better to clinch a spot.

“I think the competition level is just too close and tight to be able to think that you’re going to be able to coast to an 11th-place finish,” Hamlin said. “Nowadays the difference between 11th and third and 20th is not that much. You’ve got to go all out every single lap and fight for every position on restarts. From my standpoint, there is no backing into this thing and coasting our way to Homestead.”

Fellow Chase for the Sprint Cup drivers Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Logano and Matt Kenseth will start second through fifth, respectively. A five-time Phoenix winner, including a victory in the spring, Harvick is the prohibitive favorite Sunday.

“I just missed it by a little bit, but our (car) is really good in race trim and really looking forward to the race,” Harvick said. “We have to keep tweaking on it tomorrow and know we qualified 13th here (in the spring) and drove to the lead. We have to keep doing what we’re doing and we’ll be fine.”

Other playoff drivers qualified: Jeff Gordon (seventh), Carl Edwards (13th) and Ryan Newman (20th).

“Yeah, it is a hole,” Newman said. “Starting 20th is not where we wanted to be starting, but it’s not where you start it’s where you stop.”

Clay Rogers was the only driver who failed to qualify.

Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 Lineup