Joey Logano wins Michigan pole

BROOKLYN, Mich. – Joey Logano is feeling some Michigan déjà vu.

After winning from the pole in the June race at Michigan International Speedway, Logano won the pole again Friday in advance of Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400. Logano’s average lap speed of 201.698 mph topped Jimmie Johnson (201.523) and Denny Hamlin (201.416), putting a Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota in the top three.

“Track position is a big deal and pit stall No. 1 is a big deal,” said Logano, who gets first pick of a pit stall. “… Obviously, this race is going to turn into another strategy fest. Neat to be able to start in front again here at Michigan.”

Outside pole-sitter Johnson said track position always has been important since Michigan was repaved five years ago, so “We’ll take it.” The No. 48 team has been "stacking pennies," he said, in an effort to find more speed.

Kevin Harvick was fourth, followed by two fellow Chevrolet drivers – Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman, who is substituting for Dale Earnhardt Jr. this weekend. Chevy drivers were eight of the top 12 qualifiers overall.

"Hopefully it opens some eyes and I can get a job next year," Bowman said.

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Ryan Blaney, Jamie McMurray, Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman rounded out the top 10.

Several drivers who typically qualify well and are in contention to win races will start in the middle of the pack.

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Matt Kenseth qualified 13th and fellow Toyota driver Martin Truex Jr. was 14th, followed by Tony Stewart – who is making his final appearance at Michigan in a Sprint Cup race.

“We just kind of missed it that first lap where we needed to have the speed,” Kenseth said.

Kyle Busch will start a disappointing 16th, Michigan native Brad Keselowski qualified 18th and Kurt Busch was 19th.

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None of the big-name drivers failed to advance past the first round. The most notable drivers who missed the cut were AJ Allmendinger, Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

“Our qualifying efforts lately haven’t been as good, but our racing package has been better,” Stenhouse said after qualifying 29th. “We’ll get it dialed in tomorrow and pass a lot of cars come Sunday.”

Bowyer, who has struggled this year for HScott Motorsports, said his 27th-place qualifying effort was actually an improvement.

“Hey, that’s better than we’ve been doing,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll gain on it tomorrow and have a better day on Sunday.”

There were 40 cars who showed up for this weekend’s race, meaning no one was sent home.

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FRIDAY QUALIFYING

Lap length: 2 miles

(Car number in parentheses)

1. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 201.698 mph.

2. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 201.523.

3. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 201.416.

4. (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 201.382.

5. (24) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 201.303.

6. (88) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 201.207.

7. (21) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 201.202.

8. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 201.039.

9. (19) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 201.005.

10. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 200.462.

11. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 200.028.

12. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 199.341.

13. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 200.390.

14. (78) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 200.356.

15. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 200.323.

16. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 200.245.

17. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 200.106.

18. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 200.017.

19. (41) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 199.253.

20. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 199.203.

21. (34) Chris Buescher, Ford, 198.912.

22. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 198.791.

23. (10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 198.747.

24. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 198.183.

25. (47) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 198.265.

26. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 198.178.

27. (15) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 198.129.

28. (13) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 197.553.

29. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford, 197.509.

30. (44) Brian Scott, Ford, 196.105.

31. (7) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 196.084.

32. (23) David Ragan, Toyota, 196.057.

33. (38) Landon Cassill, Ford, 195.567.

34. (83) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 195.159.

35. (95) Sam Hornish Jr., Chevrolet, 194.458.

36. (46) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 192.838.

37. (98) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 192.072.

38. (30) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 191.939.

39. (55) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 188.966.

40. (32) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ford, 0.000.