NASCAR

Joey Logano earns third straight front row start with Vegas pole

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8m ago

Mar 03, 2024 / 6280 Views

Evan Walker

Logano went out midway through Saturday’s final round of qualifying, but his average lap speed of 184.357 mph was good enough to withstand a tough challenge from Hendrick MotorSports’ Kyle Larson (184.225 mph).

The pole is the 30th of Logano’s career. So far this season, the Team Penske driver won the pole for the Daytona 500 and started second last weekend at Atlanta.

“I didn’t think that was going to be enough for the second round,” Logano said. “But the tires fall off a little bit, and it’s always important to start up front and Pennzoil 400 and we got that.

“So, this front row every start so far this year, so I’m proud of this race team. Proud of everyone’s effort. Obviously, when you bring a new Mustang to the race track, you’re always a little bit uncertain of what it’s going to be and a lot to learn.”

Logano’s Penske teammate, Austin Cindric, ended up third fastest (184.093 mph), Daytona 500 winner William Byron was fourth and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top five.

Completing the top 10 starting lineup are Chase Briscoe, Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, Chris Buescher and Christopher Bell.

CLA	DRIVER	#	MANUFACTURER	LAPS	TIME	INTERVAL	MPH
1	J. LoganoTEAM PENSKE	22	Ford	1	29.291		184.357
2	K. LarsonHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS	5	Chevrolet	1	+0.021 29.312	0.021	184.225
3	A. CindricTEAM PENSKE	2	Ford	1	+0.042 29.333	0.021	184.093
4	W. ByronHENDRICK MOTORSPORTS	24	Chevrolet	1	+0.071 29.362	0.029	183.911
5	B. Wallace23XI RACING	23	Toyota	1	+0.113 29.404	0.042	183.648
6	C. BriscoeSTEWART-HAAS RACING	14	Ford	1	+0.139 29.430	0.026	183.486
7	M. Truex JrJOE GIBBS RACING	19	Toyota	1	+0.190 29.481	0.051	183.169
8	T. GibbsJOE GIBBS RACING	54	Toyota	1	+0.193 29.484	0.003	183.150
9	C. BuescherRFK RACING	17	Ford	1	+0.229 29.520	0.036	182.927
10	C. BellJOE GIBBS RACING	20	Toyota	1	+0.289 29.580	0.060	182.556

Round 1 / Group B

Byron topped his Hendrick teammate Larson to lead Group B with an average lap speed of 184.963 mph.

Larson was second fastest (184.761 mph) while Briscoe ended up third (184.754 mph).

Also advancing to the final round of qualifying were Penske teammates Cindric and Logano.

Among those who failed to advance were Chase Elliott, reigning series champion Ryan Blaney and Alex Bowman

Round 1 / Group A

Ford driver Buescher led an army of Toyotas in the first round with an average lap speed of 184.080 mph.

Gibbs ended up second quick (183.949 mph) while his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Bell was third (183.842 mph).

Also advancing to the final round of qualifying were fellow Toyota drivers Wallace and Truex.

Among those who failed to advance were Michael McDowell – who won the pole last week at Atlanta, Daniel Suarez, who won the race last weekend and Denny Hamlin.

“It’s a big weekend for us,” McDowell said. “It’s close, it’s really tight as far as times go. We’re close, had to work on it a little in practice. To miss by one spot stinks, but we’ve got a good piece for tomorrow.”