Richmond NASCAR: Penske's Joey Logano claims pole
Joey Logano claimed his third pole of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup season in Richmond qualifying
The Penske driver, who began his season with a maiden Daytona 500 victory, beat round two pacesetter Denny Hamlin by just 0.046 seconds in the pole shootout.
Kurt Busch and AJ Allmendinger - having his best qualifying run of the year - were also within less than a tenth of a second of pole as they filled row two.
Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr completed the top six.
Hendrick Motorsports' struggle was the shock of the session. Jeff Gordon made it into the pole shootout but was only 11th, while team-mates Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne (who had been fastest in practice) all failed to make it beyond round one.
The trio cited surprise handling troubles as Earnhardt qualified 26th, Johnson 36th and Kahne right down in 40th.
The race is scheduled for Saturday night, although the presence of rain in the forecast raises the likelihood of a postponement.
STARTING GRID:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 21.248s | - |
2 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 21.294s | 0.046s |
3 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 21.326s | 0.078s |
4 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 21.332s | 0.084s |
5 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 21.356s | 0.108s |
6 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Chevrolet | 21.409s | 0.161s |
7 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 21.424s | 0.176s |
8 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 21.459s | 0.211s |
9 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 21.499s | 0.251s |
10 | David Ragan | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 21.519s | 0.271s |
11 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 21.540s | 0.292s |
12 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 21.604s | 0.356s |
13 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 21.358s | - |
14 | Brett Moffitt | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 21.359s | - |
15 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 21.368s | - |
16 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 21.373s | - |
17 | Clint Bowyer | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 21.376s | - |
18 | Carl Edwards | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 21.390s | - |
19 | Landon Cassill | Hillman Smith Motorsports | Chevrolet | 21.398s | - |
20 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 21.400s | - |
21 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 21.470s | - |
22 | Justin Allgaier | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 21.487s | - |
23 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 21.512s | - |
24 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 21.607s | - |
25 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 21.208s | - |
26 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 21.216s | - |
27 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 21.248s | - |
28 | Josh Wise | Phil Parsons Racing | Ford | 21.251s | - |
29 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 21.278s | - |
30 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 21.289s | - |
31 | Cole Whitt | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 21.293s | - |
32 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 21.311s | - |
33 | Jeff Green | The Motorsports Group | Chevrolet | 21.318s | - |
34 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 21.334s | - |
35 | Joey Gase | Go FAS Racing | Ford | 21.337s | - |
36 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 21.341s | - |
37 | Matt DiBenedetto | BK Racing | Toyota | 21.341s | - |
38 | Michael Annett | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 21.352s | - |
39 | J.J. Yeley | BK Racing | Toyota | 21.418s | - |
40 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 21.444s | - |
41 | Alex Bowman | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 21.535s | - |
42 | Alex Kennedy | Circle Sport | Chevrolet | 21.539s | - |
43 | Reed Sorenson | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 21.912s | - |
44 | Jeb Burton | BK Racing | Toyota | 21.511s | - |
45 | Brendan Gaughan | Premium Motorsports | Chevrolet | 21.644s | - |
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