Logano scores NASCAR pole in Las Vegas

Penske Racing has once again locked-out the front row in the NASCAR Sprint Cup, this time Joey Logano trading places with Brad Keselowski to set the fastest time in Las Vegas.

Following their performance at Phoenix, the Penske duo once again made the most of the new elimination-styled NASCAR qualifying format. First progressing through the opening round which left 24 drivers, then the next segment which left 12 cars only for the final five minute run for the pole.

Logano won the pole for Sunday’s Kobalt 400 in track-record fashion in the five-minute third round with a lap at  311.051 km/h (193.278 mph). The Coors Light Pole Award was Logano’s first of the season, his first at Las Vegas and the eighth of his career.

“We’re all still learning what the best strategy is, when to go, when to cool your motor off, when to do all this stuff,” said Logano.

“We have an idea what we want to do. We’ve studied it as much as we can.

“But every time we do this we learn something that we may want to do different next time… All you can do is find the biggest hole that you can [between cars] and make sure you lay down the best lap you can. That’s what I get paid to do.”

Clint Bowyer qualified third followed by rookie Austin Dillon and reigning series champion Jimmie Johnson.

A tough qualifying for Australia’s Marcos Ambrose who lost a lot of water at the very start of the opening session. He even made light contact with Logano as he tried to get down onto the pit road.

Under the new rules of qualifying only one member is allowed over the wall to make minor changes such as tyre pressures and track-bar adjustments.

“I knew something was wrong with the car, I couldn’t drive it,” said Ambrose.

“Drew Blickensderfer (Crew Chief) said there was water on the ground, on the hood, but the rules don’ allow you to lift the hood. So, we tried to make a lap, but it didn’t matter. There is something wrong under the hood, and we’ll replace the engine and start from the tail of the field.

“It just gives us a lot more cars to pass and that’s pretty fun.”

The Australian will make the race, but has had to call on a provisional spot as 48 cars are in Las Vegas for the 43 starting positions.

Blake Koch, Landon Cassill, Dave Blaney, Joe Nemechek and JJ Yeley failed to qualify for the 43-car field.

VIDEO: Joey Logano on pole in Las Vegas

LINE-UP:  Kobalt Tools 400 – Las  Vegas

POS	Car #	Driver	Make	Sponsor	MPH	Best Time	Behind
1	22	Joey Logano	Ford	Shell Pennzoil	193.278	27.939	Leader
2	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	Miller Lite	193.099	27.965	–0.026
3	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	5-Hour Energy	192.713	28.021	–0.082
4	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	Cheerios	192.678	28.026	–0.087
5	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Kobalt Tools	192.596	28.038	–0.099
6	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	Ford	Zest	192.596	28.038	–0.099
7	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	Cessna/Bad Boy Buggies	192.397	28.067	–0.128
8	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	Farmland	192.335	28.076	–0.137
9	55	Brian Vickers	Toyota	Aaron’s Dream Machine	192.260	28.087	–0.148
10	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	Caterpillar	191.939	28.134	–0.195
11	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	Aflac	191.591	28.185	–0.246
12	78	Martin Truex Jr	Chevrolet	Furniture Row	191.510	28.197	–0.258
13	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	Farmers Insurance	191.659	28.175	–0.236
14	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr	Chevrolet	Mountain Dew Kickstart	191.618	28.181	–0.242
15	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	Axalta	191.618	28.181	–0.242
16	4	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	Jimmy John’s	191.598	28.184	–0.245
17	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	Target	191.496	28.199	–0.260
18	47	AJ Allmendinger	Chevrolet	Kingsford Charcoal	191.489	28.200	–0.261
19	66	Jeff Burton	Toyota	Let’s Go Places Toyota Camry	191.435	28.208	–0.269
20	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	M&M’s	191.381	28.216	–0.277
21	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	Quaker State / Menards	190.934	28.282	–0.343
22	10	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	Aspen Dental / GoDaddy	190.543	28.340	–0.401
23	41	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	Haas Automation	190.503	28.346	–0.407
24	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	Mobil 1 / Bass Pro Shops	189.514	28.494	–0.555
25	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	Red Cross	190.396	28.362	–0.423
26	34	David Ragan	Ford	Taco Bell	189.893	28.437	–0.498
27	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	FedEx Ground	189.767	28.456	–0.517
28	26	Cole Whitt	Toyota	Speed Stick GEAR	189.647	28.474	–0.535
29	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	Dollar General	189.328	28.522	–0.583
30	13	Casey Mears	Chevrolet	No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS	189.261	28.532	–0.593
31	98	Josh Wise	Chevrolet	Ambient Edge HVAC	188.851	28.594	–0.655
32	30	Parker Kligerman	Toyota	Aria Hotels/Black Clover	188.838	28.596	–0.657
33	38	David Gilliland	Ford	Love’s Travel Stops	188.686	28.619	–0.680
34	21	Trevor Bayne	Ford	Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center	188.429	28.658	–0.719
35	95	Michael McDowell	Ford	WRL General Contractors	188.271	28.682	–0.743
36	23	Alex Bowman	Toyota	Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry	188.166	28.698	–0.759
37	51	Justin Allgaier	Chevrolet	BRANDT Professional Agriculture	187.415	28.813	–0.874
38	7	Michael Annett	Chevrolet	Pilot / Flying J Chevrolet	186.800	28.908	–0.969
39	83	Ryan Truex	Toyota	Borla Exhaust Toyota Camry	186.265	28.991	–1.052
40	36	Reed Sorenson	Chevrolet	TBA	186.027	29.028	–1.089
41	33	Timmy Hill	Chevrolet	LittleJoesAutos.com	185.471	29.115	–1.176
42	32	Travis Kvapil	Ford	Ask More-Get More	185.344	29.135	–1.196
43	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	DeWalt	180.469	29.922	–1.983