Taylor Gray takes pole at Phoenix Raceway, outrunning reigning champion Jesse Love and teammate Brandon Jones to secure the top spot for Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series GOVX 200. The qualifying session, marked by intense track conditions and fierce competition, set the stage for a highly anticipated Desert Double weekend packed with NASCAR Cup and NTT IndyCar action at Avondale, Arizona.
Gray’s Confidence Turns into Fastest Lap
Gray’s confidence in his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra paid off as he clocked a lightning-fast lap of 27.535 seconds, averaging 130.743 mph on the one-mile oval. Reflecting on his mindset, Gray shared how his intuition played a crucial role in his preparations.
“I get this way. I don’t know why or why I get this feeling, but every once in a while I’ll walk into the track and just have that feeling of, ‘Yeah, we’re going to be really good today. We’re going to be really good this weekend.’ So I had that feeling coming here,”
Gray said,
“and just was super-confident in my car, especially after practice.”
For Gray, this was his first experience qualifying at night, adding an extra layer of complexity with the cooler track temperatures.
“I was more so just trying to expect what grip level we were going to have in qualifying and kind of where we were going to be at. That’s the first time I’ve ever qualified at nighttime, so [I was] just trying to figure out how much cooler the track temp was going to be and what kind of grip level that was to expect going into that,”
he explained.
Gray’s knack for reading conditions showed in his performance.
“I felt really good about my chances of being really fast. I wouldn’t say I was dead-set on getting the pole before I rolled out, but when I exited out of [Turn] 2, I knew I was going to be really [quick],”
he added.
Unique Track Surfaces Shape the Challenge
The GOVX 200 is just one feature of what locals describe as the “Desert Double,” which not only brings the NASCAR Cup Series but also the NTT IndyCar Series together on a single weekend. This creates unique challenges as three types of tire rubber—General Tire, Goodyear, and Firestone—blend on the Phoenix Raceway surface. With a mixture of cars and tire compounds, drivers faced an unpredictable environment that tests race strategy and adaptability.
Even with so many variables in play, Gray remained optimistic about his ability to adapt.
“This place is huge with laying down rubber. So going out late was definitely nice to have the rubber picked up and obviously a lot of pace in the track,”
he said.
“I’m not too worried about the IndyCar rubber, just because we saw, I think it was maybe Jeb Burton that was really fast. He went right out in practice on IndyCar rubber and was really fast. So I honestly think that it might gain grip for us,”
Gray continued.
“I’m not sure, obviously, the compound of their tire or anything like that. I’m not too knowledgeable about that, but I’m not too worried about the rubber being laid down.”
Gray concluded,
“It’s the same for everybody. So if it is super-loose or super-tight or really slick, we’re all going to have to deal with it—I’m just going to be the first one to find out.”
Other Standout Qualifiers and Race Weekend Schedule
Jesse Love of Richard Childress Racing, who captured his series championship in his previous Phoenix appearance, nearly secured pole, showcasing his continued prowess on this track. Love addressed his adaptability:
“I have a lot of laps here, and I’ve run different styles of cars here. ARCA… I’ve run a truck race here. I’ve run Xfinity here. I’ve run Cup on the simulator quite a bit here, helping the RCR group. So I’ve seen a lot of different things work here and it’s always changing. You can always have your baseline idea. When I show up to this racetrack, I’m thinking of X, Y, and Z. But the good part about my experience here and the way I’ve been able to compartmentalize it is that if that’s not working, I can revert back to a different technique or different line or whatever we want to call it. So I think that, quite honestly, it’s not what’s worked for me in the past year. I think what’s more important for me here is that I’m not dead set on what’s worked for me in the past year,”
Love said.
“I’m always focused on being very curious about what might work and what might not work,”
he added.
“I actually notice at tracks where I struggle more at, I’m more dead-set on one thing working. When I come to tracks like Vegas, Phoenix, tracks that I run well at, I’m much more curious and open-minded. And I’m starting to learn that about myself to kind of make all of those tracks like I am at Phoenix and Vegas.”
Brandon Jones, Gray’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, also performed strongly to secure third on the grid, making for a formidable team showing at the front. Anthony Alfredo, usually in the Cup Series and filling in for Alex Bowman in Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 500, nabbed the fourth spot for Saturday’s race, marking another highlight in his young career.
William Byron, another Cup Series contender, took the sixth qualifying position while pulling double duty this weekend. Byron reflected on his reasons for entering the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Phoenix:
“I think I’ve done this in the past and kind of ran the road courses because you think that that’s going to help you and all of that. Sometimes a Cup car and an O’Reilly car are very different. So now, I feel like the O’Reilly car is fun at certain places. This was a place that before the schedule got changed up [the Cup Championship Race used to be here], I thought, ‘OK, this is an important place with the championship. And it still is, because it’s still in the Chase, so I think that factored into it. But it’s just about having fun and trying to go win. You know, I like to be competitive, and I like to win. I’ll try to challenge myself this weekend, put pressure on myself to win. And hopefully we can do that.”
Weekend Racing Action and What to Expect
The packed weekend at Phoenix kicks off Saturday with NASCAR Cup Series qualifying at noon Eastern, followed by IndyCar’s Good Ranchers qualifying an hour later. The GOVX 200 O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race is set for around 5 p.m. ET, promising a busy Saturday for race fans and ticket-buyers. Sunday features the Cup Series’ Straight Talk Wireless 500 at 1:30 p.m. local time, with Anthony Alfredo filling in for Alex Bowman in that event.
With three racing disciplines converging, each laying down its unique tire rubber, the evolving track conditions are sure to keep drivers and teams on their toes throughout the event. The volume of Cup, Xfinity, and IndyCar activity guarantees unpredictable racing and dramatic position changes—especially as competitors like Gray, Love, Alfredo, and Byron aim to leverage their experience and adaptability amid uncertainty.
Outlook and Significance
Securing pole at Phoenix puts Taylor Gray in a strong position for Saturday night’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series GOVX 200, and highlights the depth of Joe Gibbs Racing talent. As unpredictable track conditions remain a constant challenge, drivers like Gray and Love, with their flexible mindsets, could have the advantage. The Desert Double at Phoenix has shaped up as a festival of speed and strategy, where every moment on track will count. Fans can look forward to a weekend of riveting motorsports as NASCAR and IndyCar stars share the stage in Arizona’s high-desert arena.
