Bowman, running in his only scheduled Xfinity Series start of the season for Hendrick Motorsports, bested second place Sheldon Creed by more than a tenth of a second in Saturday's qualifying session. Justin Allgaier, the defending series champion, will start 14th after a so-so lap in qualifying.

The Xfinity and Cup Series will be on track Saturday at Phoenix Raceway as the 1-mile oval opens its first annual race weekend with NASCAR’s top two national series.

The Xfinity Series will stay west for another weekend as they head to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for ‘The LiUNA!’, a 200-lap 300-mile race. Coverage will air on The CW and PRN on Saturday, Mar. 15 at 4:30 p.m. ET.