NASCAR at Phoenix 2014 Results: Race Order, Final Times and Twitter Reaction

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has moved to Phoenix this weekend for the Quicken Loans Race For Heroes 500 on Sunday. Before they lower the green flag, the order for the final race in the Chase's Eliminator Round had to be set. 

There were 36 drivers on the track at the Phoenix International Raceway looking to secure the pole position or at least put themselves in a position to cross the finish line first. It was a challenging qualifying session for some as the Arizona sun wreaked havoc on seeing turns, but that certainly made things more interesting.

Here's a look at all the news and information coming out of qualifying, including the race order, qualifying times and reaction. 

Position	Driver	Best Speed (MPH)	Best Time (Seconds)
1	Denny Hamlin	142.113	25.332
2	Brad Keselowski	142.079	25.338
3	Kevin Harvick	141.995	25.353
4	Joey Logano	141.794	25.389
5	Matt Kenseth	141.794	25.389
6	Kyle Busch	141.771	25.393
7	Jeff Gordon	141.665	25.412
8	Kyle Larson	141.321	25.474
9	Brian Vickers	141.287	25.480
10	Kurt Busch	141.188	25.498

Full results can be found at NASCAR.com

It was a good day for Denny Hamlin, who secured his third pole of the season and second at the Phoenix International Raceway, via NASCAR Stats:

This was also a huge spot for Hamlin because he's currently tied with Joey Logano atop the Chase standings heading into the final race of the Eliminator Round.

Logano was no slouch in qualifying, though, finishing fourth and keeping the heat on his competition for the championship. He started out well, per NASCAR's Chase for the Cup Twitter account, by posting the fastest time in the first round of qualifying:

While those good vibes didn't last into the second round, Logano remains in an excellent position to secure his sixth win of the year. He also provided the best line of the day, via ESPN's Marty Smith, making light of last weekend's brawl involving Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski:

Speaking of Gordon, he briefly set a new track record in qualifying with a lap of 141.066 mph before it got broken twice, per NASCAR Stats:

Going back to the brawl, Keselowski addressed that in the post-qualifying press conference in pretty much the exact way you would expect, via Alan Cavanna of NASCAR.com:

There didn't appear to be any residual anger from Keselowski on the track. He qualified second and was just six-thousandths of a second behind Hamlin for the top spot. The controversial star is fighting to keep his season alive, currently sitting in seventh place at 17 points behind Logano and Hamlin. 

The good news is there's great drama heading into the Chase because virtually all of the drivers still alive were a factor in qualifying. Only two of the top eight drivers, Ryan Newman and Carl Edwards, finished outside the top 10 on Friday. 

This is what the Chase was designed for, to create a more intense, true playoff atmosphere in the final races of the year. That mission has been accomplished with most of the major players starting in an excellent position to win before the Championship Round on November 16.