Joey Logano has taken pole for the Pocono 400 at newly-repaved Pocono Raceway.
In a qualifying session that saw 36 drivers break Kasey Kahne’s 2004 track record of 172.533 mph, Logano was fastest, collecting his first Coors Light pole award of the season and the fourth of his career.
Logano set a time of 50.112s (179.598 mph), beating Carl Edwards for the top starting spot by 0.205s. Edwards (178.866 mph) will start second ahead of Paul Menard (178.582 mph), and Logano’s Joe Gibbs Racing team-mates Kyle Busch (178.575 mph) and Denny Hamlin (178.543 mph).
Hamlin, a four-time race winner at Pocono, was ahead of Logano’s pace until an oil line broke on his #11 Toyota as he entered Turn 3. Hamlin skated in his own oil and lost his advantage as he completed the lap.
Turn 1 was a problem area, with oil-dry from Friday afternoon’s ARCA practice covering the racing groove. Logano felt he lost a little momentum in the corner, but the lap stood up.
“The track was dirty,” Logano said.
“When I went out there and got to that trouble spot, I got loose a little bit and didn’t get to the bottom as well as I wanted to. So I felt like I left a tenth and a half [of a second] or so right there, but I felt like I nailed [Turns] 2 and 3 pretty well.
“I was hoping it would be in the top five, and it ended up being good enough.”
Australian Marcos Ambrose will start from ninth place.
Series leaders Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth will start 13th and 14th respectively.
David Stremme brushed the wall off Turn 1 on his first qualifying lap and failed to make the 43-car field.
Qualifying results
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| POS | CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | SPEED | TIME | BEHIND |
| 1 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 179.598 | 50.112 | Leader |
| 2 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Kellogg’s / Cheez-it | 178.866 | 50.317 | -0.205 |
| 3 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Menards / Sylvania | 178.582 | 50.397 | -0.285 |
| 4 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | M&M’s | 178.575 | 50.399 | -0.287 |
| 5 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Express | 178.543 | 50.408 | -0.296 |
| 6 | 55 | Mark Martin | Toyota | Aaron’s Dream Machine | 178.228 | 50.497 | -0.385 |
| 7 | 78 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row / Farm American | 178.158 | 50.517 | -0.405 |
| 8 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | National Guard / Diet Mountain Dew | 177.939 | 50.579 | -0.467 |
| 9 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | DEWALT | 177.862 | 50.601 | -0.489 |
| 10 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | Farmers Insurance | 177.823 | 50.612 | -0.500 |
| 11 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | Banana Boat | 177.658 | 50.659 | -0.547 |
| 12 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | DuPont | 177.536 | 50.694 | -0.582 |
| 13 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M / Rite Aid / NextCare | 177.518 | 50.699 | -0.587 |
| 14 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Ford EcoBoost | 177.501 | 50.704 | -0.592 |
| 15 | 83 | Landon Cassill | Toyota | Burger King Real Fruit Smoothies | 177.204 | 50.789 | -0.677 |
| 16 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 5-hour Energy | 177.026 | 50.840 | -0.728 |
| 17 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target | 176.988 | 50.851 | -0.739 |
| 18 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | Haas Automation | 176.852 | 50.890 | -0.778 |
| 19 | 22 | AJ Allmendinger | Dodge | Shell / Pennzoil | 176.803 | 50.904 | -0.792 |
| 20 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | The Armed Forces Foundation | 176.658 | 50.946 | -0.834 |
| 21 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Rheem | 176.543 | 50.979 | -0.867 |
| 22 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Mobil 1 / Office Depot | 176.419 | 51.015 | -0.903 |
| 23 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 176.160 | 51.090 | -0.978 |
| 24 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools | 176.149 | 51.093 | -0.981 |
| 25 | 51 | David Reutimann | Chevrolet | Phoenix Construction Services | 176.074 | 51.115 | -1.003 |
| 26 | 13 | Casey Mears | Ford | GEICO | 175.596 | 51.254 | -1.142 |
| 27 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | Bubba Burgers | 175.576 | 51.260 | -1.148 |
| 28 | 119 | Mike Bliss | Toyota | Humphrey Smith Racing | 175.387 | 51.315 | -1.203 |
| 29 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | Transportatio-
n Impact |
175.159 | 51.382 | -1.270 |
| 30 | 98 | Michael McDowell | Ford | Presbyterian Healthcare System | 175.073 | 51.407 | -1.295 |
| 31 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Miller Lite | 174.880 | 51.464 | -1.352 |
| 32 | 249 | J.J. Yeley | Toyota | America Israel Racing / JPO Absorbents | 173.943 | 51.741 | -1.629 |
| 33 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves | 173.869 | 51.763 | -1.651 |
| 34 | 34 | David Ragan | Ford | Taco Bell | 173.853 | 51.768 | -1.656 |
| 35 | 26 | Josh Wise* | Ford | MDS Transport | 173.497 | 51.874 | -1.762 |
| 36 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | ModSpace / TRG Motorsports | 173.240 | 51.951 | -1.839 |
| 37 | 93 | Travis Kvapil | Toyota | Burger King / Dr Pepper | 171.854 | 52.370 | -2.258 |
| 38 | 23 | Scott Riggs | Chevrolet | North Texas Pipe | 171.520 | 52.472 | -2.360 |
| 39 | 74 | Stacy Compton | Chevrolet | Turn One Racing / Country Suites | 171.155 | 52.584 | -2.472 |
| 40 | 36 | Tony Raines | Chevrolet | SealWrap.com | 167.411 | 53.760 | -3.648 |
| 41 | 32 | Reed Sorenson+ | Ford | Herr Foods / Hero Energy Shot | – | – | – |
| 42 | 10 | Dave Blaney+ | Chevrolet | Tommy Baldwin Racing | – | – | – |
| 43 | 33 | Stephen Leicht* | Chevrolet | Little Joes
Autos.com |
170.345 | 52.834 | -2.722 |
| Did Not Qualify | |||||||
| 44 | 30 | David Stremme | Toyota | Inception Motorsports | 170.004 | 52.940 | -2.828 |
+ Set by Owner Points
* Denotes Rookie
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