Logano on Championship 4 qualifying: ‘We all suck’ – Nascar

RELATED: Qualifying results | Chase Grid

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Kevin Harvick won the pole position for Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), with only half of the four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship-eligible drivers advancing to the final round of 12. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch will start ninth and 10th, respectively, making up Row 5.

The other two championship-eligible drivers, Ford’s Joey Logano and Chevrolet’s Jimmie Johnson will also start alongside one another in 13th and 14th, two rows behind the Gibbs teammates in Row 7.

“Throw a blanket over us, at least one camera will be able to catch us all going into Turn 1,” reigning Sprint Cup champ Busch joked about the relative closeness of the championship field on the starting grid.

Johnson, who is looking to win a NASCAR record-tying seventh title, nearly didn’t advance out of the first round of qualifying. He was 29th on the speed chart when the red flag came out for Landon Cassill‘s spin with a minute remaining in the round. Johnson returned to pit road to wait out the delay and when the green flag flew again, he had to pull around three cars to rush back on track in time to make a single qualifying lap.

MORE: How Johnson became ‘Six-Time’ | Relive all of Johnson’s wins

Fortunately for him, the lap moved him from 29th to 22nd on the speed chart — good enough to earn a second-round berth and the opportunity to move up the starting grid.

“Didn’t have a clean first lap,” Johnson said. “And just a little unlucky with the (Cassill) spin. We made the most of the situation we were in. But qualifying is one thing. I’m so much better at racing.”

“What’s the championship race without a little drama,” Johnson joked.

Logano also noted how closely the championship contingent was on the grid.

“I told Jimmie, ‘We all suck,’ ” Logano said, smiling. “I don’t know what happened. It is interesting that we are all starting so close to each other and not toward the front. It is not what you would expect coming here. I am sure none of us are going to stay back there very long.”

The two Gibbs drivers were similarly encouraged if not absolutely satisfied with their qualifying efforts.

“Thing that was notable to me, shows you how tough the competition is,” said Edwards, the only Chase driver with two wins at the South Florida track. “All week for me, I’ve been thinking of racing these (three Chase) guys, but after sitting out there and watching qualifying, it’s really going to be tight.”