KANSAS CITY, Kan. – In a bit of a plot twist, Joey Logano surprised the rest of his playoff counterparts by stealing the pole for the Hollywood Casino 400 during Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying on Friday night.
Logano wasn’t the star of the first two rounds, but he charged to the top of the scoring pylon when it mattered most, turning a fast lap of 28.177 seconds (191.646 mph) with his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford to earn the 20th pole of his Cup Series career.
He led a Ford sweep of the top five positions on the grid, one week after the Blue Ovals dominated and won with ease at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
Friday night’s effort, which marked Logano’s first pole of the season, locked the Team Penske driver into the 2019 Clash at Daytona Int’l Speedway. It also put him ahead of all his rivals in the standings ahead of a critical elimination race on Sunday.
“We made zero changes from the time we unloaded off the trailer today to qualifying,” noted Logano. “This thing is fast. My guys have done a great job preparing a fast race car and we unloaded with really good speed. The best part was that we were able to maintain the speed we needed throughout each run.
“This is a fun place to qualify, because it definitely rewards bigger guts,” he added. “The more you go for it, the bigger the reward is, but the penalty for stepping over that line is pretty steep too … so you have to be somewhat careful. It’s been a while since we got a pole, so it’s nice to break through this weekend going into eliminations this weekend.”
Prior to this weekend, Logano’s last pole was at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, 35 races ago.
Three-time Kansas winner Kevin Harvick put the No. 4 Busch Light Ford on the outside pole with a lap of 28.246 seconds (191.178 mph) in the final round. Harvick will look to complete a sweep of the Kansas races this season from the second starting position on Sunday.
Almirola was third-quick (28.277/190.968), followed by Logano’s teammates Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski.
Four Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas followed in positions six through nine – with Erik Jones leading Kyle Busch, Daniel Suarez and Denny Hamlin – while Alex Bowman completed the top 10 in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. filled out the sixth row of the grid and completed the list of 12 drivers who made it through all three knockout rounds.
Chase Elliott was the first driver who failed to advance to the final round, qualifying 13th (28.417/190.027) with the No. 9 Mountain Dew Chevrolet.
The good news for Elliott, however, is that his win at Dover (Del.) Int’l Speedway two weeks ago means his place in the third round of the playoffs is already secure.
“This is a test this weekend as to how you are going to be for the rest of the playoffs,” said Elliott. “We race a few more 1.5-mile tracks the rest of the season, so if you struggle here this weekend, you probably have your work cut out for you throughout this next round.
“We need to capitalize. We’re still at a major deficit to the guys ahead of us, as far as wins and their bonus points,” he continued. “The pressure is on. We need to treat it as if it’s any other weekend and try and grab a win this week.”
Clint Bowyer was the other playoff driver eliminated in round two. He will roll off 14th on Sunday in the No. 14 DEKALB Ford as he looks to earn his place in the next stage of the postseason.
Other notables starting in the middle of the pack include rookie William Byron (17th) and seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson (22nd).
The biggest story of the day was that of Kyle Larson, who lost an appeal of his Talladega penalties and then crashed his primary car during the afternoon practice session prior to qualifying.
Larson made two late runs in an effort to make the top 24, but was eliminated in the opening round. His final lap was .268 of a second too late to count, but would have only been 25th-quick anyways.
To view the complete starting grid for the Hollywood Casino 400, advance to the next page.
