A ray of sunlight was just what Joey Logano needed during Saturday morning’s qualifying session at Pocono Raceway.
After posting a lap at 172.055 mph (52.309 seconds), Logano had to wait for 20 fellow Sprint Cup drivers to make their qualifying runs before he could claim the pole for Sunday’s Good Sam RV 500 at the 2.5-mile triangular track.
The Coors Light pole award was Logano’s second this year. He has three Cup poles overall. NASCAR.com
Admitting the rumors of Carl Edwards taking over the No. 20 ride stayed in the back of his mind, Logano said he never let them come into play on the race track and remained focused throughout. In addition, the focus on those rumors have kept his team’s momentum out of the spotlight.
“The last six or seven races, our team has done a good job,” he said. “We’ve been doing a good job lately, building a lot of momentum. If we keep doing that, eventually a win is going to happen. Confidence in the whole team is definitely up right now, especially with me.” SB Nation
“With two poles this year at places where I’ve never qualified that well, it shows how hard my team has been working and trying to figure out certain things; it’s awesome,” Logano said. “The car drove pretty much the way it needed to.”
Kasey Kahne earned the outside pole with a lap at 171.648 mph. Kahne also started second in last weekend’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Martin Truex Jr. qualified third, followed by Carl Edwards, the current points leader, and Kurt Busch.
Denny Hamlin, a four-time race winner at Pocono, Paul Menard, who is coming off his first Sprint Cup win at Indy, Jeff Burton, Greg Biffle and Kevin Harvick completed the top-10. MiamiHerald.com
“I just focused in 100 percent,” said Logano, after earning the third pole of his career. “It’s been paying off lately. … I think confidence in the whole team is definitely up.”
Logano heard all the rumblings that his job could be on the line with Edwards possibly on the move.
“When you’re watching TV and you see (reports) come up on the screen, how do you not think about it?” he said. “It’s right there in front of you.
“But when your (team) owners are behind you, saying it’s all rumors, what do you have to worry about really? As far as I knew, they were just rumors. Until my boss, Joe (Gibbs) or J.D. (Gibbs) tell me I’m not driving, that’s what I go with.”
“We want to win races and we want to make the Chase and I feel like the Red Bull guys are capable if we put an entire race together,” said Kahne, 55 points out of Chase qualifying position with six races to go. “We’ve been close, but I don’t think we’ve put that entire race together. The wild card is getting close to being our only chance to make the Chase.” USA Today
Click Here to Read More:
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Good Sam RV Insurance 500 at Pocono - Race Line-Up
| 
|