Michigan International Speedway is one of Joey Logano’s favorite tracks and on Friday it was no different. He captured the pole award and will lead the Pure Michigan 400 to the green flag.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pure Michigan 400 race is scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m.
Logano steadily improved his car the first two rounds of qualifying and then showed his dominance in the final round. He posted the top speed of 201.698 mph in the third round to win the award.
“I was surprised after the first couple of rounds when we weren’t as fast as the last time we were here,” Logano said. “We were eighth going into the final round but great adjustments to find a little bit more speed out of this thing. I was down there waiting and Todd said, ‘Take it!’ So I said, ‘Yeah, I am going to take it.’ So I got pumped up and I had the attitude that we were going to grab it or we were going to crash. It worked out well.”
Jimmie Johnson will start second, Denny Hamlin will roll off third while Kevin Harvick will start fourth.
Johnson posted the top mark in the first round with a speed of 201.134 as the top nine finishers all eclipsed the 200.000 mph mark. Denny Hamlin was second in round while Kyle Larson was third. Logano was eighth with a speed of 200.006 mph.
Kyle Larson led the second round of qualifying with the speed of 201.879. All twelve drivers that advanced to the final round had speeds greater than 200 mph. Logano was again eighth for the second consecutive round at 200.647 mph.
In preparation for the Pure Michigan 400, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series took to the track at Michigan International Speedway on Friday afternoon. Martin Truex Jr. posted the top speed at 201.545 mph during the first practice. He led a group of 10 drivers that all topped the 200 mph mark.
The trucks also had their first practice on Friday afternoon in preparation for the Careers for Veterans 200. Canadian Cameron Hayley led the first round of practice with a speed of 186.804 mph. Johnny Sauter, Matt Crafton, Brett Moffitt and Ben Rhodes rounded out the top five.
Tyler Reddick led the second practice with a top speed of 185.735 mph. The top five for the second round included Moffitt, Sauter, Daniel Hemric and Rico Abreu.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will qualify on Saturday morning at 9:45 a.m. The Careers for Veterans 200 will start at 1 p.m.
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