Joey Logano’s torrid streak carried over to qualifying Friday, as he captured the pole for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway.
The winner of three consecutive races and a series-best six on the year, Logano’s 98.548 mph lap around the half-mile Virginia track edged Martin Truex Jr. (98.487 mph) for the No. 1 starting position, his sixth of the season.
If Logano can win Sunday he will become the first driver to record four straight victories since Jimmie Johnson in 2007, whose streak began by winning the fall Martinsville race.
“It’s an amazing run we’re on right now,” Logano said. “It’s so much fun. We’re doing everything right, but all of that can end in a blink of an eye, so we just have to keep our focus.”
Logano swept all three races in the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff, the first driver ever to do so. A win in the Round 3 opener Sunday would automatically earn him a spot in the four-driver championship finale Nov. 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“We’re peaking at the right time,” Logano said. “Chase time is when you have to rise to the occasion and this is the time you have to do it and it’s amazing to see the whole team do that together.”
By taking the pole Logano gets first selection of pit stalls, a significant advantage at Martinsville where passing can be difficult and where its pit road is NASCAR’s most challenging.
“You’ve got to think that first pit stall is worth a few spots throughout the day,” Logano said. “It’s a lot easier to pass them on pit road than it is on the race track and I’ve got an amazing pit crew here lately.”
Non-Chasers AJ Allmendinger and Jamie McMurray start third and fourth, respectively, followed by championship-eligible Jeff Gordon in fifth. The remainder of the playoff field qualified: Kyle Busch (sixth), Brad Keselowski (11th), Kevin Harvick (12th), Carl Edwards (14th) and Kurt Busch (15th).
The only incident during the three-round session saw Kasey Kahne getting loose entering Turn 1 and backing into the outside wall. Because of the heavy damage sustained, he will switch to a backup car and start last on Sunday.
“It wheel-hopped it and it’s totally screwed up,” Kahne said. “We had a good car in practice and I knew it was just a matter of doing it right.”
