Logano

NASCAR: Logano wins the pole on newly resurfaced Sonoma

Team Penske’s Joey Logano claimed his third pole position of the season Saturday afternoon at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway – turning a fast lap of 97.771 mph in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, bettering the previous record by more than a second on the newly-paved 1.99-mile road course in Northern California.

The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion will start Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350  alongside 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, who was a slight 0.083-second behind Logano.

“I got a little loose up in turn two and probably left a little bit out there, but it’s hard to hit a perfect lap every corner,” said Logano, a 31-time pole-winner who also won pole position at Sonoma in 2011.

“If you can average it all out to be pretty good, it works out. It was great to see the Autotrader Mustang having some speed here in Sonoma. It didn’t seem too bad in race trim either, so hopefully we turn this into a victory tomorrow.”

Logano’s only career road course win came in 2015 at Watkins Glen, N.Y. His best finish at Sonoma is third, something he has done twice including last year.

Logano’s Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney, the reigning series champion, will roll off third – both drivers looking for their first trophy of the season. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson round out the top-five.

All four Hendrick cars advanced to the final round of qualifying, including three-race winner William Byron in sixth and Alex Bowman in eighth. Trackhouse Racing teammates Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain will start seventh and ninth with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs rounding out the top-10 who advanced to the final round.

NASCAR Cup Series championship leader, JGR’s Denny Hamlin will roll off 25th and his teammate, four-time and defending Sonoma race winner Martin Truex Jr. is 21st on the starting grid.

Two of the Australian Supercar Series drivers are making their debut this weekend. Will Brown, who was second fastest in practice, will roll off 24th in the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Cam Waters will start 31st in the No. 60 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford.

“This race is gonna be a lot different than what it was in the past here,” Logano said. “You think about what it used to be here with a lot of tire wear. Now the tires seem to last fairly long so that can adjust the strategy quite a bit from what it used to be here. There are a lot of different options for the crew chiefs to try to make up their mind on how to play out the race and time will tell.”

Starting Lineup

Pos No. Driver Team Time Speed
1 22 Joey Logano Autotrader Ford 73.273 97.771
2 45 Tyler Reddick Monster Energy Toyota 73.356 97.661
3 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Moen Ford 73.427 97.566
4 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Gold Filters Chevrolet 73.430 97.562
5 5 Kyle Larson Valvoline Chevrolet 73.445 97.542
6 24 William Byron RaptorTough.com Chevrolet 73.463 97.518
7 99 Daniel Suarez Freeway Insurance Chevrolet 73.467 97.513
8 48 Alex Bowman Ally Pride Chevrolet 73.537 97.420
9 1 Ross Chastain Kubota Chevrolet 73.560 97.390
10 54 Ty Gibbs He Gets Us Toyota 73.770 97.113
11 16 AJ Allmendinger(i) Cirkul Chevrolet 73.488 97.485
12 34 Michael McDowell Love’s Travel Stops Ford 73.847 97.011
13 77 Carson Hocevar # Delaware Life Chevrolet 73.798 97.076
14 38 Todd Gilliland Frontline Enterprises Inc. Ford 73.898 96.944
15 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 73.870 96.981
16 3 Austin Dillon Get Bioethanol Chevrolet 73.986 96.829
17 7 Corey LaJoie Gainbridge Chevrolet 73.914 96.923
18 23 Bubba Wallace Columbia Sportswear Company Toyota 73.994 96.819
19 10 Noah Gragson Overstock.com Ford 74.002 96.808
20 71 Zane Smith # Wellcare Chevrolet 74.005 96.804
21 19 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota 74.005 96.804
22 21 Harrison Burton DEX Imaging Ford 74.045 96.752
23 14 Chase Briscoe Ford Performance Racing School Ford 74.051 96.744
24 33 Will Brown Mobile X/Shaw and Partners Chevrolet 74.045 96.752
25 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Toyota 74.151 96.614
26 17 Chris Buescher BuildSubmarines.com Ford 74.092 96.691
27 51 Justin Haley Jacob Construction Ford 74.196 96.555
28 2 Austin Cindric America’s Tire Ford 74.226 96.516
29 8 Kyle Busch zone Chevrolet 74.265 96.465
30 41 Ryan Preece Caymus Vineyards Ford 74.475 96.193
31 60 Cam Waters AUKUS/BuildSubmarines.com Ford 74.366 96.334
32 4 Josh Berry # Mobil 1 50th Anniversary Ford 74.485 96.180
33 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Kroger Health/Tylenol Chevrolet 74.408 96.280
34 31 Daniel Hemric Cirkul Chevrolet 74.549 96.098
35 6 Brad Keselowski King’s Hawaiian/Despicable Me 4 Ford 74.496 96.166
36 15 Kaz Grala # N29 Capital Partners Ford 74.883 95.669
37 42 John Hunter Nemechek Save Mart Toyota 74.863 95.695
38 43 Erik Jones Dollar Tree Toyota 75.205 95.260