Joey Logano claimed the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole of his career in qualifying for Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The 2009 Rookie of the Year had been fastest in the morning practice and was able to mirror his performance in qualifying, setting a fastest lap time of 15.396sec, at an average speed of 124.630mph. The 19-year-old also claimed Toyota's first pole position of the year, as he continues to fly the flag for Joe Gibbs Racing as the best placed driver from the team in the standings.
"That was a big deal for us, to get our car up there is definitely very cool," said Logano. "To get your first pole, I never thought it would come here. This is one of my tougher racetracks and I thought I really sucked here but I guess I don't now, so that's pretty exciting to me."
Five-time Bristol winner Kurt Busch came closest to beating Logano's benchmark in his No. 2 Penske Dodge and he will start from the outside of the front row. Beside him Dave Blaney was a surprising third, by far the best of the non-guaranteed drivers in his Prism Motorsports Toyota, while reigning champion Jimmie Johnson will start fourth, while still looking for his first Bristol victory.
Fifth was Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon, who will share the third row of the grid with Earnhardt Ganassi's Juan Pablo Montoya.
The fourth row is an all-Roush Fenway one with Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards, both two-time winners at the track, as the fastest Fords in qualifying.
Marcos Ambrose was ninth after holding pole provisionally in his Michael Waltrip Racing prepared JTG Daugherty Toyota, while teammate David Reutimann rounded out the top 10.
Casey Mears made the field for the first time this year after switching to Earnhardt Childress power for this weekend, while Max Papis spun on his qualifying run and ended up missing the cut, as did Mike Bliss.
Pos Driver Car Speed Time Gap
1. Joey Logano Toyota 124.630 15.396s
2. Kurt Busch Dodge 123.857 15.492s + 0.096s
3. Dave Blaney Toyota 123.850 15.493s + 0.097s
4. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 123.817 15.497s + 0.101s
5. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 123.698 15.512s + 0.116s
6. Juan Montoya Chevrolet 123.626 15.521s + 0.125s
7. Matt Kenseth Ford 123.499 15.537s + 0.141s
8. Carl Edwards Ford 123.403 15.549s + 0.153s
9. Marcos Ambrose Toyota 123.308 15.561s + 0.165s
10. David Reutimann Toyota 123.269 15.566s + 0.170s
11. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 123.245 15.569s + 0.173s
12. Paul Menard Ford 123.166 15.579s + 0.183s
13. Mark Martin Chevrolet 123.103 15.587s + 0.191s
14. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 122.929 15.609s + 0.213s
15. Denny Hamlin Toyota 122.906 15.612s + 0.216s
16. David Gilliland Ford 122.898 15.613s + 0.217s
17. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 122.890 15.614s + 0.218s
18. Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 122.890 15.614s + 0.218s
19. Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 122.803 15.625s + 0.229s
20. Regan Smith Chevrolet 122.787 15.627s + 0.231s
21. Ryan Newman Chevrolet 122.701 15.638s + 0.242s
22. Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 122.631 15.647s + 0.251s
23. AJ Allmendinger Ford 122.537 15.659s + 0.263s
24. Kasey Kahne Ford 122.411 15.675s + 0.279s
25. Greg Biffle Ford 122.388 15.678s + 0.282s
26. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 122.341 15.684s + 0.288s
27. Aric Almirola Chevrolet 122.232 15.698s + 0.302s
28. Brian Vickers Toyota 122.209 15.701s + 0.305s
29. Scott Speed Toyota 122.131 15.711s + 0.315s
30. David Ragan Ford 121.960 15.733s + 0.337s
31. David Stremme Ford 121.574 15.783s + 0.387s
32. Robby Gordon Toyota 121.551 15.786s + 0.390s
33. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 121.505 15.792s + 0.396s
34. Casey Mears Chevrolet 121.267 15.823s + 0.427s
35. Joe Nemechek Toyota 121.190 15.833s + 0.437s
36. Brad Keselowski Dodge 121.129 15.841s + 0.445s
37. Elliott Sadler Ford 121.106 15.844s + 0.448s
38. Kyle Busch Toyota 121.098 15.845s + 0.449s
39. Michael Waltrip Toyota 121.075 15.848s + 0.452s
40. Terry Cook Dodge 121.060 15.850s + 0.454s
41. Travis Kvapil Ford 120.923 15.868s + 0.472s
42. Mike Bliss Chevrolet 120.452 15.930s + 0.534s
43. Max Papis Toyota 119.820 16.014s + 0.618s
44. Bobby Labonte Chevrolet 118.496 16.193s + 0.797s
45. Kevin Conway Ford 117.949 16.268s + 0.872s