Logano captures the pole for the Pure Michigan 400

Joey Logano
Joey Logano

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."

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]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.

Lineup

Pos. Car # Driver Manufacturer Sponsor Speed Time Behind
1 22 Joey Logano Ford Shell Pennzoil 201.698 35.697 Leader
2 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 201.523 35.728 0.031
3 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Office 201.416 35.747 0.05
4 4 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Jimmy John's Chevrolet SS 201.382 35.753 0.056
5 24 Chase Elliott Chevrolet NAPA Auto Parts 201.303 35.767 0.07
6 88 Alex Bowman Chevrolet Axalta / University of Michigan 201.207 35.784 0.087
7 21 Ryan Blaney Ford Motocraft / Quick Lane Tire + Auto Center 201.202 35.785 0.088
8 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet Cessna Chevrolet 201.039 35.814 0.117
9 19 Carl Edwards Toyota ARRIS Surfboard 201.005 35.82 0.123
10 31 Ryan Newman Chevrolet Freightliner 200.462 35.917 0.22
11 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet Farmers Insurance 200.028 35.995 0.298
12 42 Kyle Larson Chevrolet Target 199.341 36.119 0.422
13 20 Matt Kenseth Toyota Dollar General 200.39 35.93 0.233
14 78 Martin Truex Jr Toyota Furniture Row / Denver Mattress 200.356 35.936 0.239
15 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS 200.323 35.942 0.245
16 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Interstate Batteries 200.245 35.956 0.259
17 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet Cheerios 200.106 35.981 0.284
18 2 Brad Keselowski Ford Miller Lite 200.017 35.997 0.3
19 41 Kurt Busch Chevrolet Monster Energy / Haas Automation Chevrolet SS 199.253 36.135 0.438
20 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet Sylvania / Menards 199.203 36.144 0.447
21 34 Chris Buescher Ford Dockside Logistics 198.912 36.197 0.5
22 16 Greg Biffle Ford Roush Performance Ford Fusion 198.791 36.219 0.522
23 10 Danica Patrick Chevrolet Aspen Dental Chevrolet SS 198.747 36.227 0.53
24 6 Trevor Bayne Ford Advocare Ford Fusion 198.183 36.33 0.633
25 47 AJ Allmendinger Chevrolet Kroger/Scott Products 198.265 36.315 0.618
26 43 Aric Almirola Ford Smithfield 198.178 36.331 0.634
27 15 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 5-Hour Energy 198.129 36.34 0.643
28 13 Casey Mears Chevrolet GEICO 197.553 36.446 0.749
29 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Ford Zest Ford Fusion 197.509 36.454 0.757
30 44 Brian Scott Ford Twisted Tea 196.105 36.715 1.018
31 7 Regan Smith Chevrolet APC Chevrolet 196.084 36.719 1.022
32 23 David Ragan Toyota Dr. Pepper 196.057 36.724 1.027
33 38 Landon Cassill Ford MDS Transport 195.567 36.816 1.119
34 83 Matt DiBenedetto Toyota Vector Security 195.159 36.893 1.196
35 95 Michael McDowell Ford Thrivent Financial 194.458 37.026 1.329
36 46 Michael Annett Chevrolet Pilot Flying J 192.838 37.337 1.64
37 98 Cole Whitt Chevrolet TBD 192.072 37.486 1.789
38 30 Josh Wise Chevrolet Curtis Key Plumbing 191.939 37.512 1.815
39 55 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet VYDOX Plus 188.966 38.102 2.405
40 32 Jeffrey Earnhardt Ford KeenParts.com / CorvetteParts.net 0 0 -35.697