Martin Truex Jr. mastered the track known as the ‘Tricky Triangle’ as he scored pole at Pocono Raceway.

Truex logged a fast lap of 288.465km/h (179.244 mph) in the Furniture Row Racing 78 Toyota on the 2.5-mile track. It is his third pole of the season, his first at Pocono and the 10th of his Sprint Cup career.

“The car felt really good for me today,” said Truex Jr.

“We’ve obviously got speed now we’ll use the rest of the weekend to fine tune some things and get ready for Sunday. Love this track and looking forward to having some fun on Sunday and trying to get to Victory Lane.”

It will be an all Toyota front row with Carl Edwards set to start alongside. Paul Menard, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman completed the top five.

One of the talking points at qualifying was a technical issue with NASCAR’s Laser Inspection Station (LIS).

Qualifying was delayed 20 minutes while the issue was rectified with some cars, including Kyle Busch, only clearing the station after qualifying had begun. Busch will start 16th.

Also in the spotlight once again was “super sub” Jeff Gordon, who is again driving Dale Earnhardt’s Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Earnhardt Jr. has sat out the previous two races at Loudon and Indianapolis with concussion symptoms. Gordon, a six-time winner at Pocono will start 24th.

QUALIFYING: Pennsylvania 400 – Pocono Raceway

POS.	CAR #	DRIVER	MAKE	SPONSOR	MPH	TIME	GAP
1	78	Martin Truex Jr		Furniture Row	179.244	50.211	Leader
2	19	Carl Edwards		Stanley	178.873	50.315	–0.104
3	27	Paul Menard		Moen / Menards	178.671	50.372	–0.161
4	11	Denny Hamlin		FedEx Ground	178.540	50.409	–0.198
5	31	Ryan Newman		Caterpillar	178.433	50.439	–0.228
6	14	Tony Stewart		Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS	178.394	50.450	–0.239
7	2	Brad Keselowski		Alliance Truck Parts	178.359	50.460	–0.249
8	24	Chase Elliott		NAPA Auto Parts	177.571	50.684	–0.473
9	20	Matt Kenseth		Dollar General	177.413	50.729	–0.518
10	22	Joey Logano		Shell Pennzoil	177.151	50.804	–0.593
11	42	Kyle Larson		Target	177.082	50.824	–0.613
12	3	Austin Dillon		American Ethanol	176.835	50.895	–0.684
13	47	AJ Allmendinger		Scott Products	177.322	50.755	–0.544
14	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr		Roush Performance Ford Fusion	177.281	50.767	–0.556
15	41	Kurt Busch		Monster Energy / Haas Automation Chevrolet SS	177.183	50.795	–0.584
16	18	Kyle Busch		M&M’s 75th Anniversary	177.054	50.832	–0.621
17	4	Kevin Harvick		Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS	176.988	50.851	–0.640
18	21	Ryan Blaney		Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire + Auto Center	176.880	50.882	–0.671
19	1	Jamie McMurray		Cessna / McDonald’s Chevrolet	176.574	50.970	–0.759
20	13	Casey Mears		GEICO	176.478	50.998	–0.787
21	48	Jimmie Johnson		Lowe’s	176.091	51.110	–0.899
22	34	Chris Buescher		Dockside Logistics	176.084	51.112	–0.901
23	5	Kasey Kahne		Great Clips	175.901	51.165	–0.954
24	88	Jeff Gordon		Nationwide	175.706	51.222	–1.011
25	16	Greg Biffle		Ford EcoBoost Ford Fusion	175.603	51.252	–1.041
26	10	Danica Patrick		Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS	175.404	51.310	–1.099
27	43	Aric Almirola		Smithfield	174.985	51.433	–1.222
28	15	Clint Bowyer		5-Hour Energy	174.257	51.648	–1.437
29	95	Michael McDowell		Malwarebytes	174.236	51.654	–1.443
30	7	Regan Smith		APC Chevrolet	173.826	51.776	–1.565
31	6	Trevor Bayne		Advocare Ford Fusion	173.534	51.863	–1.652
32	38	Landon Cassill		MDS Transport	173.491	51.876	–1.665
33	23	David Ragan		USA Network	173.077	52.000	–1.789
34	83	Matt DiBenedetto		E.J. Wade Construction	172.874	52.061	–1.850
35	44	Brian Scott		Medallion Financial	172.209	52.262	–2.051
36	98	Cole Whitt		TBD	171.716	52.412	–2.201
37	32	Jeb Burton		Erie Insurance	171.429	52.500	–2.289
38	30	Josh Wise		Curtis Key Plumbing	170.451	52.801	–2.590
39	46	Michael Annett		Allstate Peterbilt Group	169.750	53.019	–2.808
40	55	Reed Sorenson		VYDOX Plus	158.615	56.741	–6.530

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