NASCAR Martinsville: Joey Logano takes Sprint Cup pole position

Logano won all three rounds of the previous stage of the Chase, then topped both the morning practice session at Martinsville and the second part of qualifying, before securing his sixth pole of the 2015 season.

His pole margin was only narrow, though, with Martin Truex Jr getting his Furniture Row Chevrolet within 0.012 seconds of Logano's 19.215s lap.

AJ Allmendinger - in his best oval qualifying performance of 2015 - and qualifying round one pacesetter Jamie McMurray got among the Chase contenders as they filled the second row.

Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch completed the top six, followed by non-Chase men Ryan Newman, Aric Almirola, Kyle Larson and March Martinsville winner Denny Hamlin.

Champion Kevin Harvick was Logano's closest challenger in round two but only 12th in the pole shootout.

He starts just behind Brad Keselowski, who had an eventful afternoon in Penske's second car.

A frustrated Keselowski only just made it to the second round after having to abandon a lap when Kasey Kahne crashed, and he was the final man to make it to the pole shootout.

Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch were the only two Chase contenders who failed to reach the final 12. They will start 14th and 15th.

Kahne had set a time fast enough to reach round two before spinning into the wall, but he could not participate in the rest of qualifying and will now switch to a back-up car, sending him to the tail of the field.

Gordon's fifth place was by far Hendrick's best result, with his and Kahne's team-mates Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr only managing 21st and 22nd.

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