NASCAR Phoenix 2016 qualifying results: Alex Bowman wins 1st career pole

When Alex Bowman accepted the role of being Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s fill-in, he did so with the intent to show he was deserving of a fulltime ride with one of NASCAR’s top teams.

The 23-year-old Bowman has done just that in eight starts driving Earnhardt’s No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports car. He’s twice finished in the top 10 and had several strong runs stymied by misfortune in the form of tire failures and assorted other issues.

On Friday, Bowman further provided team owners another reason why he’s worthy of a seat with an upper echelon organization by capturing the pole for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Phoenix International Raceway. It’s his first pole in 80 career starts -- with the added bonus of occurring in his home state of Arizona.

Kyle Larson qualified second, followed by Chase Elliott, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin rounding out the top five.

“I just can’t thank everybody at Hendrick Motorsports enough,” said Bowman, a Tucson native. “To do this in Phoenix, so close to home, means so much to me. We have had such fast race cars, we haven’t had an ounce of luck, but to get a pole here means a lot.”

Despite showcasing his ability, Bowman’s future prospects remain cloudy. Earnhardt, who sustained a concussion in June, is on pace to return in time for the 2017 season-opener in February. And nearly every top team has its lineup in place or lacks the necessary funding to add another car.

A possibility for Bowman could be with one of the Xfinity or Camping World Truck Series teams Earnhardt co-owns —something Earnhardt said he would do except he lacks the sponsorship to put a full season deal together. If he’s unable to land a ride, Bowman said he’ll continue working for Hendrick Motorsports in the shop where he drives the team’s simulator that helps decide which chassis setups to race at a given track.

“I’m still waiting for the right opportunity to come along,” Bowman said. “There’s nothing that has really fit that has come along. I’ll still probably have my day job at Hendrick Motorsports driving the simulator. We’ll go from there.”

Phoenix is the penultimate event of the season, and the elimination race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup semifinal round that determines which four of the eight remaining drivers will contest for the championship in next week’s finale. Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards are assured of advancing by virtue of winning the past two weeks at Martinsville Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway, respectively.

Some combination of Logano, Hamlin, Kevin Harvick (qualified sixth), Matt Kenseth (10th), Kurt Busch (12th), and defending Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch (19th) will fill out the bracket. Logano and Kyle Busch are each one point up of Matt Kenseth, the first driver below the cutoff, and two ahead of Hamlin. Harvick trails by 18 points, Kurt Busch is 34 back.

Johnson starts 17th on Sunday, with Kyle Busch 19th.

“I like this race track,” Hamlin said. “It’s been really good to me honestly, and especially in these Chase races, so I’m very confident we can go out here and contend for the win and that’s what we need to do.”

Can-Am 500 qualifying results