Joey Logano became a first-time pole winner in the Sprint Cup Series after turning the fastest lap in Friday’s qualifying for the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Logano, the 2009 Sprint Cup rookie of the year, posted a lap of 124.630 m.p.h. on the half-mile, high-banked track to record his first pole in his 44th start. The 19-year-old is having a remarkable sophomore season so far in NASCAR’s top circuit, as he currently sits 14th in points. MiamiHerald.com
Logano edged Kurt Busch (123.857 mph) for the top starting spot. Dave Blaney (123.849 mph) qualified third, followed by four-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson (123.818 mph) and Jeff Gordon (123.698 mph).
“It’s definitely really cool to get your first pole, but I never thought it would come here,” said Logano, who finished 38th and 34th at Bristol last year. “I’ve always been fast here, and I’ve always had good race cars. I’ve been coming here since ‘06 in a Pro Cup car.
“I’ve always been fast, but I’ve always been caught up in a wreck or knocked the fender in and blew a tire or stubbed the nose and blew a motor. ... I walked into this race track [Friday], and I said, ‘I want an uneventful race.’”
Juan Montoya, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Marcos Ambrose and David Reutimann earned the sixth through 10th starting positions, respectively. NASCAR
POS CAR DRIVER MAKE 1 20 Joey Logano Toyota 2 2 Kurt Busch Dodge 3 66 Dave Blaney Toyota 4 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 5 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 6 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 7 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 8 99 Carl Edwards Ford 9 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota 10 0 David Reutimann Toyota 11 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 12 98 Paul Menard Ford 13 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 14 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 15 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 16 38 David Gilliland Ford 17 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 18 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 19 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 20 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 21 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 22 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 23 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 24 9 Kasey Kahne Ford 25 16 Greg Biffle Ford 26 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 27 9 Aric Almirola Chevrolet 28 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 29 82 Scott Speed Toyota 30 6 David Ragan Ford 31 26 David Stremme Ford 32 7 Robby Gordon Toyota 33 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 34 190 Casey Mears Chevrolet 35 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 36 12 Brad Keselowski Dodge 37 19 Elliott Sadler Ford 38 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 39 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota 40 46 Terry Cook* Dodge 41 34 Travis Kvapil Ford 42 37 Kevin Conway+* Ford 43 71 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet
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