Alex Bowman, making his only scheduled NASCAR Xfinity Series start this year, will lead the field to green in Saturday’s GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway.
The Tucson, Arizona-native posted the quickest lap in Saturday morning’s qualifying session from the one-mile racetrack, laying down a lap of 27.276 seconds (131.984mph) to capture his fourth pole in the second-tier series.
.@Alex_Bowman rips the quickest lap of the day and puts the No. 17 on the pole at @phoenixraceway! pic.twitter.com/gZZri6wxvt
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) March 8, 2025
It’s the first Xfinity Series pole for a multi-time NASCAR Cup Series winner since Michigan International Speedway in June of 2016, when he was driving the No. 88 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports.
Piloting the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, Bowman scored the fifth pole position for the part-time entry since it was revived at the start of 2022.
Sheldon Creed, in his fourth start for Haas Factory Team, will start alongside Bowman in Saturday’s 200-lap contest with new sponsor Pit Boss Grills on board the No. 00.
STARTING LINEUP: 2025 GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway
Sammy Smith and Connor Zilisch, teammates in the JR Motorsports stable, will share the second row for Saturday’s event, with Daytona winner Jesse Love rounding out the top-five.
William Sawalich, last Fall’s Xfinity Series pole sitter at Phoenix Raceway, will roll from sixth, while Big Machine Racing’s Nick Sanchez will start seventh, with Aric Almirola, Taylor Gray, and Austin Hill completing the top-10.
After pacing the sole NASCAR Xfinity Series practice from Phoenix Raceway, defending series champion Justin Allgaier will roll from 14th place. Anthony Alfredo, who was second in practice, posted a time quick enough to roll from 25th.
There were no issues during either practice or qualifying from Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, with Greg Van Alst being the slowest qualifier from the one-mile oval, leaving him to qualify 38th.
With just 38 entries for Saturday’s event at Phoenix, there are no drivers packing up and heading home prior to the drop of the green flag.
The GOVX 200 at Phoenix Raceway will take place on Saturday, March 8 at 5:00 PM ET on The CW, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
