Joey Logano tops Almirola for Martinsville pole

Logano was only sixth-fastest in Round 2 but only ran one lap, giving him more fresh rubber in the final five-minute round than most of his competitors.

He went out late in the session, ran four laps, and picked up the pole for Sunday’s STP 500 with an average lap speed of 97.830 mph.

The pole is first of the 2019 season, 21st of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career and fifth at Martinsville, all coming in his last nine races.

“You just have to be so precise and you’re pushing yourself so hard in the corners and a mistake has such a big penalty when you get loose and then you’re right on the edge of the tires and you go over the edge a little bit,” said Logano, who won last fall’s race at Martinsville following a bump-and-run of Martin Truex Jr.

“It’s the difference between qualifying first and eighth or ninth because the field is so close. It’s awesome to get another pole and hopefully we can top it off with another win. This is a fun race. I always look forward to coming up here.”

Asked about the importance of the No. 1 pit stall selection, Logano said: “It’s so important because pit road here is so dangerous. You look at how small it is, it’s tight getting in and out.

“With everyone pulling out two or three (cars) deep, it’s nice to have nice pit stall and be able to have a safer exit.”

Aric Almirola ended up second (97.643 mph) and Brad Keselowski third (97.457 mph). Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin – who led the first two rounds – completed the top-five.

Rounding out the Top 12 starters are William Byron, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Truex, Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson.

Round 2

Hamlin remained fast in the second round, again topping the leaderboard with an average lap speed of 97.683 mph.

He was followed closely by Harvick (97.492 mph) and Almirola (97.462 mph). Elliott was fourth and Larson completed the top-five.

Also advancing to the final round were Logano, Keselowski, Suarez, Truex, Johnson, Byron and Bowyer.

Among those who failed to advance were Kyle Busch, who ran eight laps in the 10-minute session; Alex Bowman; Ryan Blaney; Erik Jones, who ran 10 laps in the session; Kurt Busch; and Ryan Newman.

“Just too loose. Trying to make a turn in race trim and we’re just too loose right now,” Kyle Busch said. “That’s all there is to it.”

Round 1

Hamlin led the way in the first round of knockout qualifying with an average lap speed of 97.835 mph.

He was followed closely by Keselowski (97.457 mph) and Almirola (97.457 mph). Harvick and Larson completed the top-five.

Rounding out the Top 10 were Logano, Preece, Blaney, Kurt Busch and Byron.

Most of field didn’t begin an attempt at a clean qualifying lap until halfway through the 10-minute session. Several drivers did go out to scuff their tires and immediately return.

One of Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s runs was disallowed after being penalized for speeding on pit road following his qualifying lap. He did manage to get another run in but ended up only 25th fastest.

“They second time out we were just too tight,” Stenhouse said.

Among those who failed to advance were Stenhouse, Bubba Wallace, Daniel Hemric and Austin Dillon.

Corey LaJoie and Cody Ware both failed to participate in qualifying as each was involved in an accident in practice earlier Saturday and both of their teams were working on their respective backup cars.

Cla	#	Driver		Manufacturer	Time	Gap	Mph
1	22	Joey Logano		Ford	19.356		97.830
2	10	Aric Almirola		Ford	19.393	0.037	97.643
3	2	Brad Keselowski		Ford	19.430	0.074	97.458
4	4	Kevin Harvick		Ford	19.445	0.089	97.382
5	11	Denny Hamlin		Toyota	19.449	0.093	97.362
6	24	William Byron		Chevrolet	19.481	0.125	97.202
7	42	Kyle Larson		Chevrolet	19.502	0.146	97.098
8	9	Chase Elliott		Chevrolet	19.511	0.155	97.053
9	19	Martin Truex Jr.		Toyota	19.518	0.162	97.018
10	41	Daniel Suarez		Ford	19.556	0.200	96.830
11	14	Clint Bowyer		Ford	19.581	0.225	96.706
12	48	Jimmie Johnson		Chevrolet	19.608	0.252	96.573
13	37	Chris Buescher		Chevrolet	19.571	0.215	96.755
14	18	Kyle Busch		Toyota	19.579	0.223	96.716
15	21	Paul Menard		Ford	19.583	0.227	96.696
16	47	Ryan Preece		Chevrolet	19.588	0.232	96.671
17	88	Alex Bowman		Chevrolet	19.593	0.237	96.647
18	12	Ryan Blaney		Ford	19.602	0.246	96.602
19	20	Erik Jones		Toyota	19.602	0.246	96.602
20	1	Kurt Busch		Chevrolet	19.623	0.267	96.499
21	6	Ryan Newman		Ford	19.626	0.270	96.484
22	95	Matt DiBenedetto		Toyota	19.630	0.274	96.465
23	13	Ty Dillon		Chevrolet	19.652	0.296	96.357
24	34	Michael McDowell		Ford	19.695	0.339	96.146
25	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		Ford	19.664	0.308	96.298
26	38	David Ragan		Ford	19.703	0.347	96.107
27	43	Darrell Wallace Jr.		Chevrolet	19.742	0.386	95.917
28	00	Landon Cassill		Chevrolet	19.785	0.429	95.709
29	8	Daniel Hemric		Chevrolet	19.807	0.451	95.603
30	3	Austin Dillon		Chevrolet	19.814	0.458	95.569
31	15	Ross Chastain		Chevrolet	19.846	0.490	95.415
32	36	Matt Tifft		Ford	19.846	0.490	95.415
33	52	Jeb Burton		Chevrolet	19.998	0.642	94.689
34	77	D.J. Kennington		Chevrolet	20.013	0.657	94.618
35	32	Corey Lajoie		Ford	0.000		0.000
36	51	Cody Ware		Chevrolet	0.000		0.000