NASCAR is back in the Valley of the Sun for the Shriners Children’s 500 at the gloried Phoenix Raceway, and sparks are already flying. Joey Logano put the Team Penske #22 Ford at the front of the pack in opening practice on Friday, but the real story might be the sudden surge of the Toyotas Camry XSEs, with a surprising number filling the top ten.

Joey Logano takes on Toyota solo, heading to Saturday’s Qualifiers

The two-time Cup Series champion, Logano clocked in the best time of 27.446 seconds, translating to a scorching speed of 131.167 mph. Following closely behind were JGR’s #11 Denny Hamlin (Toyota), 23XI’s #45 Tyler Reddick (Toyota), Legacy Motor Club’s #42 John Hunter Nemechek (Toyota), and Logano’s teammate at Penske, #2 Austin Cindric (Ford) – a mix that highlights the evolving competition of manufacturers at the upper echelons.

However, six of the top-10 fastest drivers were piloting the Japanese manufacturer’s new Camry XSE body, including surprise appearances – sixth-fastest Erik Jones who came in at a decent 130.776 mph, and Nemechek of LMC.

Reddick’s teammates, #23 Bubba Wallace and 29-year-old JGR star Christopher Bell were the final additions to the Toyota party, showcasing their incredible speed on the reconfigured short-track package alongside veterans like Denny Hamlin, who has won twice at Phoenix himself. While Toyota Camrys were the hottest on the laps, the outlook surprisingly emerged bleak for Chevrolet.

Last year’s pole-sitter and Vegas race winner Kyle Larson languished in 20th place, while his Hendrick Motorsports teammate and defending Phoenix champion William Byron found himself buried even deeper at an ironic 24th. Their teammate #9 Chase Elliott pulled one back for the GM-backed giants and Hendrick finished seventh, while rookie Carson Hocevar for Spire Motorsports was the only other Chevy in the Top-10, rounding off the list in the 10 spot with a best time of 27.65 seconds.

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Despite the Toyota overdrive, Ford Performance driver, Joey Logano has remained a formidable contender early into the season. Logano’s consistent dominance in qualifying this season has been impossible to overlook. Securing two poles in just three races this season for evidence of his newfound vigor and the #22 team’s meticulous preparations every week.

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Another driver to watch closely is Tyler Reddick. Last week’s runner-up in the Pennzoil 400, piloting the #45 Toyota, found himself between the sea of Camrys in the top five despite a mid-session spin. This incident, though brief, highlighted the potential for some volatility in the repackaged short track. Moreover, Reddick rued his P2 finish from last weekend’s nail-biting race. He will be looking forward to avenging his defeat to the #5 Chevrolet in the fateful 1-mile at Phoenix amidst early-season Hendrick dominance.

Following the Cup Series practice, insights from Toyota faithful and JGR teammates like Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin revealed mixed sentiments, however. MTJ expressed dissatisfaction, stating that the car felt identical to the previous fall and remained “terrible” in traffic. On the other hand, Hamlin went on to acknowledge a slight improvement, but emphasized that it was far from groundbreaking.

“I would say that it was probably a little bit better in traffic,” The 23XI co-owner continued, “Very small from what I could tell. Nothing earth-shattering. If you got caught behind somebody, you would really get caught behind someone, but that is typical of what we’ve had before.”

Tune into qualifying on Saturday at 2:10 PM ET, just before the 4:30 PM ET start of the Xfinity Series race to see if Joey Logano can maintain his early season front-row dominance or if it is time for Toyota to finally step up to P1 in 2024.