Joey Logano has made a statement on his return to Martinsville Speedway with pole position for the STP 500.
It may have been his 15th career pole and third-straight at the “Paperclip”; to tie a record with Jeff Gordon. However, most of the talk was about but it being the first time back at the shortest track in NASCAR since being dumped off the circuit and out of championship contention by Matt Kenseth in October.
“You’ve got to use things like that to motivate you – not only you and your team,” said Logano.
“I know I felt really excited and really pumped up and jacked up to come to this race track and show what we’re made out of. This is a good start.
“Qualifying here is more important than any other race track we go to. Having a good pit stall pays a lot here because you’re coming down pit road so many times, so I think it pays really big here.
“Also starting up front allows you to save your car and we’ve got 500 laps to go.”
The Penske driver set a lap speed was 156.176 km/h (97.043 mph) and will share the front row with Kasey Kahne, with Tony Stewart’s substitute driver Brian Vickers and Paul Menard lining up on the second row.
QUALIFYING: STP 500 – Martinsville Speedway
| POS. | CAR # | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | MPH | BEST TIME | BEHIND |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 | Joey Logano |  |
Shell Pennzoil | 97.043 | 19.513 | Leader |
| 2 | 5 | Kasey Kahne |  |
Great Clips | 97.033 | 19.515 | –0.002 |
| 3 | 14 | Brian Vickers | |
Janssen Arnie’s Army Charitable Foundation Chevrolet SS | 96.864 | 19.549 | –0.036 |
| 4 | 27 | Paul Menard | |
Libman / Menards | 96.854 | 19.551 | –0.038 |
| 5 | 31 | Ryan Newman | |
Grainger | 96.736 | 19.575 | –0.062 |
| 6 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | |
Kroger / Butterfinger / Coffeemate | 96.676 | 19.587 | –0.074 |
| 7 | 18 | Kyle Busch |  |
M&M’s 75th Anniversary | 96.657 | 19.591 | –0.078 |
| 8 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | |
FedEx Express | 96.642 | 19.594 | –0.081 |
| 9 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | |
Dollar General | 96.440 | 19.635 | –0.122 |
| 10 | 24 | Chase Elliott | |
3M | 96.224 | 19.679 | –0.166 |
| 11 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | |
Miller Lite | 96.205 | 19.683 | –0.170 |
| 12 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | |
Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire + Auto Center | 96.171 | 19.690 | –0.177 |
| 13 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | |
Fastenal Ford Fusion | 96.637 | 19.595 | –0.082 |
| 14 | 16 | Greg Biffle | |
Roush Performance Ford Fusion | 96.622 | 19.598 | –0.085 |
| 15 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | |
Bad Boy Off Road / Beechcraft | 96.617 | 19.599 | –0.086 |
| 16 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | |
Furniture Row | 96.568 | 19.609 | –0.096 |
| 17 | 42 | Kyle Larson | |
Target | 96.474 | 19.628 | –0.115 |
| 18 | 13 | Casey Mears | |
GEICO | 96.470 | 19.629 | –0.116 |
| 19 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | |
Jimmy John’s | 96.362 | 19.651 | –0.138 |
| 20 | 43 | Aric Almirola | |
STP | 96.244 | 19.675 | –0.162 |
| 21 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | |
Nationwide | 96.049 | 19.715 | –0.202 |
| 22 | 23 | David Ragan | |
Dr. Pepper | 95.981 | 19.729 | –0.216 |
| 23 | 41 | Kurt Busch | |
Haas Automation / Monster Energy | 95.796 | 19.767 | –0.254 |
| 24 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | |
Lowe’s | 95.714 | 19.784 | –0.271 |
| 25 | 19 | Carl Edwards | |
Arris | 96.083 | 19.708 | –0.195 |
| 26 | 44 | Brian Scott | |
Goody’s | 95.917 | 19.742 | –0.229 |
| 27 | 95 | Michael McDowell | |
KLove Radio Chevrolet SS | 95.912 | 19.743 | –0.230 |
| 28 | 10 | Danica Patrick | |
TaxAct | 95.888 | 19.748 | –0.235 |
| 29 | 3 | Austin Dillon | |
Dow | 95.874 | 19.751 | –0.238 |
| 30 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | |
5-Hour Energy | 95.840 | 19.758 | –0.245 |
| 31 | 98 | Cole Whitt | |
TBA | 95.757 | 19.775 | –0.262 |
| 32 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | |
Advocare Ford Fusion | 95.612 | 19.805 | –0.292 |
| 33 | 38 | Landon Cassill | |
MDS Transport | 95.593 | 19.809 | –0.296 |
| 34 | 7 | Regan Smith | |
APC Chevrolet | 95.545 | 19.819 | –0.306 |
| 35 | 83 | Matt DiBenedetto | |
Cosmo Motors | 95.295 | 19.871 | –0.358 |
| 36 | 34 | Chris Buescher | |
CSX / Play It Safe | 95.252 | 19.880 | –0.367 |
| 37 | 32 | Joey Gase | |
Donate Life | 94.817 | 19.971 | –0.458 |
| 38 | 46 | Michael Annett | |
Pilot Flying J | 94.246 | 20.092 | –0.579 |
| 39 | 30 | Josh Wise | |
Curtis Key Plumbing | 94.218 | 20.098 | –0.585 |
| 40 | 55 | Reed Sorenson | |
TBA | 0.000 | 0.000 | -19.513 |
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