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  • Joey Logano Makes A Statement By Scoring Pocono Pole

    Joey Logano Makes A Statement By Scoring Pocono Pole

    After weeks of speculation about his future with Joe Gibbs Racing, particularly in light of the Carl Edwards’ contract negotiations, Joey Logano made a statement about his place in this weekend’s race festivities.

    [media-credit name=”Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”207″][/media-credit]The driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet scored the coveted pole position at Pocono Raceway, with a time of 52.309 seconds and a speed of 172.055 mph.

    This was Logano’s third pole in 96 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races and his second pole and 10th top-10 start in 2011. This was his first pole at Pocono and he also took the honors of becoming the youngest pole winner ever at Pocono at the age of 21 years, two months and 13 days.

    “It’s a really big deal,” Logano said of his pole run. “We’ve been doing a good job and building momentum. Confidence in the team is up, especially in me.”

    Logano acknowledged hearing the rumors about Carl Edwards potentially taking his place at Joe Gibbs Racing. In spite of that, he refused to give in, focusing instead on getting all he could out of the ‘Tricky Triangle.’

    “As far as I knew, they were just rumors,” Logano said of Edwards assuming his ride. “I focused in 100% and tried to make myself the best race car driver I can and it’s been paying off.”

    “It’s in the back of your mind. When you’re watching TV, how do you not think about it,” Logano continued. “But if your owners are behind you, what do you have to worry about really?”

    “I’ve learned a lot through the downs we had this season,” Logano said. “I have become a leader.”

    Starting on the outside pole for the 38th Annual Good Sam RV Insurance 500 is Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota. With a lap of 52.433 seconds at a speed of 171.648 seconds, this was Kahne’s 12th top-10 start in 2011 and his 10th in 16 races at Pocono Raceway.

    “It’s definitely good to start up front,” Kahne said. “I felt really good.”

    “Our lap was good but Joey’s was just better.”

    Kahne acknowledged that although he was pleased with the outside pole, there were many more challenges yet to come throughout the lengthy Pocono race.

    “So many things will happen throughout the race and it will be like that here,” Kahne said. “We have to stay on top of it and make good decisions so maybe we will be there at the end.”

    Martin Truex, Jr., behind the wheel of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, scored the third spot on the starting grid.  At one of the tracks that he considers ‘home’, Truex, Jr. ran a lap of 52.480 seconds and a speed of 171.494.

    “It’s been a while since I’ve qualified up front,” Truex Jr. said. “We had an interesting day yesterday and everyone knows how tricky Pocono is.”

    “We struggled but worked on the car and got it the way we wanted it,” Truex continued. “We went into qualifying with an entirely different package.”

    “It wasn’t a perfect lap but it’s nice to start up front at Pocono.”

    Carl Edwards, driving the No. 99 bug-on-the-side Ortho Home Defense Max Ford, and Kurt Busch in the yellow No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge, rounded out the top five.

     

    Starting Lineup
    Good Sam RV Insurance 500, Pocono Raceway
    http://www.speedwaymedia.com/Cup/qual.php?race=21
    ===========================================
    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time
    ===========================================
    1 20 Joey Logano Toyota 172.055 52.309
    2 4 Kasey Kahne Toyota 171.648 52.433
    3 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 171.494 52.48
    4 99 Carl Edwards Ford 171.474 52.486
    5 22 Kurt Busch Dodge 171.468 52.488
    6 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 171.448 52.494
    7 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet 171.37 52.518
    8 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 171.367 52.519
    9 16 Greg Biffle Ford 171.171 52.579
    10 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 171.122 52.594
    11 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 171.08 52.607
    12 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 170.788 52.697
    13 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge 170.652 52.739
    14 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 170.619 52.749
    15 6 David Ragan Ford 170.619 52.749
    16 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 170.59 52.758
    17 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 170.558 52.768
    18 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 170.538 52.774
    19 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 170.506 52.784
    20 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 170.438 52.805
    21 36 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 170.309 52.845
    22 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota 170.28 52.854
    23 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 170.161 52.891
    24 34 David Gilliland Ford 170.068 52.92
    25 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 170.042 52.928
    26 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 169.991 52.944
    27 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford 169.875 52.98
    28 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 169.734 53.024
    29 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 169.629 53.057
    30 66 Todd Bodine Toyota 169.393 53.131
    31 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 169.358 53.142
    32 13 Casey Mears Toyota 169.339 53.148
    33 0 David Reutimann Toyota 169.335 53.149
    34 55 J.J. Yeley Ford 168.909 53.283
    35 46 Erik Darnell Ford 168.631 53.371
    36 51 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 168.508 53.41
    37 30 David Stremme Chevrolet 167.892 53.606
    38 7 Robby Gordon Dodge 167.795 53.637
    39 38 Travis Kvapil Ford 167.604 53.698
    40 37 Scott Speed Ford 167.42 53.757
    41 32 Jason White+ Ford 167.165 53.839
    42 71 Andy Lally+* Ford 166.867 53.935
    43 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 167.268 53.806
  • Surprising and Not Surprising: Inaugural Kentucky Quaker State 400

    Surprising and Not Surprising: Inaugural Kentucky Quaker State 400

    The bluegrass state, known more for its horse racing than horse power, hosted its first ever NASCAR Sprint Cup race, the Quaker State 400. Here is what was surprising and not surprising from the inaugural running of the cars at Kentucky Speedway.

    [media-credit name=”Joe Dunn” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Surprising:  It was a bit surprising to find the biggest complaints of the fans echoed the complaints of the drivers on this historic night. And it was all about the traffic, on and off the track.

    Many fans never even made it into the race because of the traffic. This situation was so bad that both the track management and NASCAR had to issue statements of apology.

    Several drivers also complained vehemently about the traffic on the track as well, especially about not being able to pass. Four-time champion Jeff Gordon, driving the No. 24 Dupont Chevrolet, was most vocal about the both sets of traffic situations.

    “When the green flag dropped, I was surprised with how little grip there was because we had so much grip throughout the weekend,” Gordon said. “It was so impossible to pass here.”

    “I think the only thing that made this a great race today was the green-white-checkered and the excitement and energy of the fans,” Gordon continued. “I think when Bruton (Smith) is looking at how to get the traffic in here, he’s going to have to look at the race track as well.”

    “It’s rough and it’s really hard to pass.”

    Not Surprising:  It was not surprising to see one driver yet again prove his versatility and driving skills, especially with the spotlight shining on the inaugural run in the bluegrass state.

    That driver, Kyle Busch, proved that he can not only drive from the back of the pack to the victory, as he did in the Camping World Truck Series race, but also start from the pole, lead 125 laps of the 267 laps in the race, and win the first ever Cup event at Kentucky Speedway.

    “This is cool man,” the driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota said. “This is right up there with the best of them.”

    “I haven’t won the big ones, so this is as good as it gets right now,” Busch continued. “I can’t put it into words. The way we ran tonight was awesome.”

    This was Busch’s 22nd victory in 240 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races and his third victory in 2011. The victory also catapulted the 26 year old driver into the lead in the Chase standings by 4 points over Carl Edwards.

    Surprising:  David Reutimann, driver of the No. 00 Tums Toyota Camry, surprisingly not only starred in the Tums commercial with team owner Michael Waltrip, but also starred in his best career finish, runner up to race winner Kyle Busch.

    This was only Reutimann’s second top-10 finish for the entire 2011 season.

    “It was a great race man,” Reutimann said. “It was a phenomenal race.”

    “We got a run on top and got it pointed in the right direction,” Reutimann said of the final lap as he battled five-time champ Jimmie Johnson. “Jimmie gave me enough room up there and we ended up getting a decent finish.”

    Not Surprising:   It was not surprising that the winner of the Kentucky Speedway Nationwide race was the closest contender in the Cup race as far as laps led to the race winner. Brad Keselowski, winner of the Nationwide race at Kentucky, led three times for a total of 79 laps in the first-ever Cup race.

    Unfortunately for Keselowski, driver of the blue deuce for Penske Racing,  the late restarts did not work in his favor and he ended up finishing seventh in the inaugural Cup run atKentucky.

    “It was an incredible Miller Lite Dodge Saturday night,” Keselowski said. “I led a bunch of laps and I have to thank my team for that.”

    “But I would have liked to have gotten a better finish from where we ended up.”

    Surprising:  Old five time Jimmie Johnson made a surprisingly uncharacteristic mistake behind the wheel of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet. He lost count of the laps and thought there was one more lap to go in the race instead of it being completed.

    “I didn’t see the white flag,” Johnson said. “I saw some type of flag when we were coming, which was the checkered, but I didn’t see the white for some reason.”

    “I think the 18 was going to be the winner the way it was,” Johnson continued. “It didn’t change the outcome of the race by any stretch of the imagination.”

    Johnson finished the race in the third spot. He also moved up one spot in the point standings to fifth place.

    Not Surprising:  While Juan Pablo Montoya, behind the wheel of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet, may be known as a fiery, aggressive driver, it is not surprising that he and his crew chief Brian Pattie are calculating their every move with the Chase fast approaching.

    Montoya had a good car at Kentuckyand was up in the front lurking for much of the race. Although he finished 15th after qualifying for the outside pole, Montoya has inched ever nearer to Chase contention, moving up one spot to the 13th position in the point standings.

    Surprising:  Jamie McMurray, driving the No. 1 McDonald’s Chevrolet, is having a surprisingly bad run of motor failures for the season. The engine gremlin struck him again at Kentucky Speedway and it blew up, exuding a tremendous amount of smoke that forced him to a dead stop on the track.

    “Yeah, I got a little freaked out because I felt the motor start shaking and blow up and the smoke came in the car so fast I couldn’t see,” McMurray said. “That’s the first time that’s ever happened to me.”

    “I’m really frustrated,” McMurray continued. “I can’t believe we broke three engines in 18 races or however many we’ve run so far. I don’t know that I’ve blown up three engines in the last five or six years.”

    “So, it’s unbelievable that we seem to keep getting the engine that breaks.”

    Not Surprising:  After several drivers experienced challenging runs at their first ever attempt at Kentucky Speedway, it is not at all surprising that the last words out of the mouths of these drivers is how much they cannot wait to get to the next race in New Hampshire.

    “That was a tough night for the NAPA Know How team,” Martin Truex, Jr., driver of the No. 56 NAPA Good To Go Toyota Camry, said. “We started slow and then it looked like we were going to get a good finish but our car kind of plowed there at the end.”

    “I’m looking forward to New Hampshire.”

    Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota Camry, echoed Truex’s sentiments.

    “It was a fight,” Hamlin said of his inaugural Kentucky run. “We couldn’t make any moves, especially when it came night time and it seemed like our car went away from us.”

    “I’m looking forward to going back to a short track likeNew Hampshire.”

    Hamlin finished 11th and moved up to 10th in the point standings. Truex, Jr. finished 18th and held steady at 23rd in points.