Joey Lagano has scored his third career NASCAR Sprint Cup pole position setting the benchmark at the Good Sam RV Insurance 500 at Pocono Raceway.
After posting a lap at 172.055 mph (52.309 seconds) during the qualifying session, Logano had to wait for 20 fellow Sprint Cup drivers to make their runs before he could claim the top spot for the race at the 2.5-mile triangular track.
A patch of sunlight, which broke through the clouds after Logano made his attempt, may have warmed the track enough to prevent those who followed him from beating his time.
Kasey Kahne came closest, running his lap at 171.648 mph to earn the outside spot on the front row. Martin Truex Jr. (171.494 mph), who preceded Logano in the qualifying order, will start third, followed by Cup points leader Carl Edwards (171.474 mph) and Kurt Busch (171.468 mph).
Logano didn’t show his hand in Friday’s practice, when the qualifying order is set — slowest to fastest — according to practice speeds.
“About all of us looked at the schedule before we got here and saw that qualifying was in the morning,” Logano said. “There’s a lot of cars sandbagging [in practice]. A lot of guys were definitely shutting it down before they got to the start/finish line. The chance you take is, if it rains, you’re SOL.”
In the event of a rainout, NASCAR sets the starting order for the race according to practice speeds.
“I don’t know where we were on the chart — 20th or so on the speed charts in practice? Obviously, we had a lot more than that,” Logano said.
Australia’s Marcos Ambrose will have some work to do starting in 27th.
“That’s not what we wanted,” said Ambrose.
“When you’ve only got one lap it’s hard to really know what you’ve got out there.
“I tried, but I just got a little loose off of one and lost a lot of momentum.”
QUALIFYING: Good Sam RV Insurance 500 – Pocono Raceway
|
Pos. |
Driver |
Car |
Sponsor |
MPH |
Time |
Difference |
|
1 |
Joey Logano |
Toyota |
The Home Depot |
172.055 |
52.309 |
Leader |
|
2 |
Kasey Kahne |
Toyota |
Red Bull |
171.648 |
52.433 |
-0.124 |
|
3 |
Martin Truex Jr. |
Toyota |
NAPA Auto Parts |
171.494 |
52.480 |
-0.171 |
|
4 |
Carl Edwards |
Ford |
Ortho Home Defense Max |
171.474 |
52.486 |
-0.177 |
|
5 |
Kurt Busch |
Dodge |
Shell / Pennzoil |
171.468 |
52.488 |
-0.179 |
|
6 |
Denny Hamlin |
Toyota |
FedEx Office |
171.448 |
52.494 |
-0.185 |
|
7 |
Paul Menard |
Chevrolet |
CertainTeed / Menards |
171.370 |
52.518 |
-0.209 |
|
8 |
Jeff Burton |
Chevrolet |
Caterpillar |
171.367 |
52.519 |
-0.210 |
|
9 |
Greg Biffle |
Ford |
3M / 811 |
171.171 |
52.579 |
-0.270 |
|
10 |
Kevin Harvick |
Chevrolet |
Budweiser |
171.122 |
52.594 |
-0.285 |
|
11 |
Kyle Busch |
Toyota |
M&M’s |
171.080 |
52.607 |
-0.298 |
|
12 |
Ryan Newman |
Chevrolet |
Tornados |
170.788 |
52.697 |
-0.388 |
|
13 |
Brad Keselowski |
Dodge |
Miller Lite |
170.652 |
52.739 |
-0.430 |
|
14 |
Clint Bowyer |
Chevrolet |
Good Sam Club |
170.619 |
52.749 |
-0.440 |
|
15 |
David Ragan |
Ford |
UPS “We Love Logistics” |
170.619 |
52.749 |
-0.440 |
|
16 |
Jamie McMurray |
Chevrolet |
Bass Pro Shops / Tracker |
170.590 |
52.758 |
-0.449 |
|
17 |
Regan Smith |
Chevrolet |
Furniture Row Companies |
170.558 |
52.768 |
-0.459 |
|
18 |
Jimmie Johnson |
Chevrolet |
Lowe’s |
170.538 |
52.774 |
-0.465 |
|
19 |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
Chevrolet |
Amp Energy / National Guard |
170.506 |
52.784 |
-0.475 |
|
20 |
Matt Kenseth |
Ford |
Crown Royal |
170.438 |
52.805 |
-0.496 |
|
21 |
Dave Blaney |
Chevrolet |
Golden Corral |
170.309 |
52.845 |
-0.536 |
|
22 |
Bobby Labonte |
Toyota |
Reese Towpower / Highland |
170.280 |
52.854 |
-0.545 |
|
23 |
Juan Montoya |
Chevrolet |
Target |
170.161 |
52.891 |
-0.582 |
|
24 |
David Gilliland |
Ford |
Front Row Motorsports |
170.068 |
52.920 |
-0.611 |
|
25 |
Mark Martin |
Chevrolet |
GoDaddy.com |
170.042 |
52.928 |
-0.619 |
|
26 |
Brian Vickers |
Toyota |
Red Bull |
169.991 |
52.944 |
-0.635 |
|
27 |
Marcos Ambrose |
Ford |
Dewalt |
169.875 |
52.980 |
-0.671 |
|
28 |
Tony Stewart |
Chevrolet |
Office Depot / Mobil 1 |
169.734 |
53.024 |
-0.715 |
|
29 |
A.J. Allmendinger |
Ford |
Best Buy |
169.629 |
53.057 |
-0.748 |
|
30 |
Todd Bodine |
Toyota |
HP Racing LLC |
169.393 |
53.131 |
-0.822 |
|
31 |
Jeff Gordon |
Chevrolet |
Drive to End Hunger |
169.358 |
53.142 |
-0.833 |
|
32 |
Casey Mears |
Toyota |
GEICO |
169.339 |
53.148 |
-0.839 |
|
33 |
David Reutimann |
Toyota |
Aaron’s Dream Machine |
169.335 |
53.149 |
-0.840 |
|
34 |
J.J. Yeley |
Ford |
Front Row Motorsports |
168.909 |
53.283 |
-0.974 |
|
35 |
Erik Darnell |
Ford |
Red Line Oil |
168.631 |
53.371 |
-1.062 |
|
36 |
Landon Cassill |
Chevrolet |
Phoenix Construction / Thank A Teacher Today-Security Benefit |
168.508 |
53.410 |
-1.101 |
|
37 |
David Stremme |
Chevrolet |
Life is Good Kids Foundation |
167.892 |
53.606 |
-1.297 |
|
38 |
Robby Gordon |
Dodge |
Speed Energy |
167.795 |
53.637 |
-1.328 |
|
39 |
Travis Kvapil |
Ford |
Long John Silver’s |
167.604 |
53.698 |
-1.389 |
|
40 |
Scott Speed |
Ford |
Max Q Motorsports |
167.420 |
53.757 |
-1.448 |
|
41 |
Jason White+ |
Ford |
GunBroker.com |
167.165 |
53.839 |
-1.530 |
|
42 |
Andy Lally+* |
Ford |
Interstate Moving Services |
166.867 |
53.935 |
-1.626 |
|
43 |
Joe Nemechek |
Toyota |
AMFMEnergy.com / Pellet & Wood Stoves |
167.268 |
53.806 |
-1.497 |
| DNQ | ||||||
|
44 |
Geoffrey Bodine |
Chevrolet |
Luke & Associates |
167.218 |
53.822 |
-1.513 |
|
45 |
T.J. Bell* |
Chevrolet |
Green Smoke |
167.072 |
53.869 |
-1.560 |
|
46 |
Mike Skinner |
Toyota |
Big Red |
166.156 |
54.166 |
-1.857 |
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