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Joey Logano led 35 drivers over the existing Pocono Raceway qualifying record due to the latest repave job.
Taking his fourth career NASCAR Sprint Cup pole Logano averaged 179.598 mph in a Toyota on Saturday.
There was an ironic twist in the story. Despite the increased grip early qualifiers found themselves on a slippery surface.
"The track was really dirty and you saw the first few cars go out in turn one and one of the ARCA cars must have blown up in the practice," Logano said.
"They just couldn't get the track clean enough. I went down into (turn) one and barrelled in there and got loose and went up the race track, so I feel like I left a couple tenths (of a second) out there."
Carl Edwards, second fastest in a Ford at 178.866 mph had a similar, experience to the pole-sitter. "I drove down in the corner and it was just a little slicker than I thought it was gonna be and I got out of the groove a little bit on exit," Edwards said.
"I just ran out of guts and had to lift a little off of one, and then I totally messed up the tunnel (turn), but I've got a great race car. My guys did a really good job, but, admittedly, it's very difficult to practice yesterday and run a really good lap and then come back 24 hours later and run that perfect lap again.
"I think a couple guys are gonna go fast if the track cleans off, but it is a little treacherous out there. I've got to give credit to Joey. He did a really good job."
Paul Menard, who won the Brickyard 400 last year, will start third in a Chevrolet at 178.582 mph. He may be considered a favourite as the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway - called the Tricky Triangle - is considered a comparable race track even if it has only three corners.
"They are more similar now; the grip level is a lot closer," Menard explained. "Indy is probably the track that has the most grip that we go to. They do an excellent job with the surface.
"Obviously, this track has a lot more grip now so they are a lot similar. Car wise, set-up wise and what the car needs isn't the same yet but it's closer.
"I haven't really thought a lot about what we did at Indy outside of it's the same type of deal you just have to get off the corners and carry speed down these long straightaways. That is what I have been working on during the test and during the practices."
Kyle Busch, Logano's teammate will start fourth, and Denny Hamlin, another teammate is fifth followed by the Toyota of Mark Martin.
David Reutimann is driving the Phoenix Racing car in place of Kurt Busch who is serving a one-race suspension. David Stremme failed to qualify for the 400-mile race which was reduced from 500 miles.
Taking his fourth career NASCAR Sprint Cup pole Logano averaged 179.598 mph in a Toyota on Saturday.
There was an ironic twist in the story. Despite the increased grip early qualifiers found themselves on a slippery surface.
"The track was really dirty and you saw the first few cars go out in turn one and one of the ARCA cars must have blown up in the practice," Logano said.
"They just couldn't get the track clean enough. I went down into (turn) one and barrelled in there and got loose and went up the race track, so I feel like I left a couple tenths (of a second) out there."
Carl Edwards, second fastest in a Ford at 178.866 mph had a similar, experience to the pole-sitter. "I drove down in the corner and it was just a little slicker than I thought it was gonna be and I got out of the groove a little bit on exit," Edwards said.
"I just ran out of guts and had to lift a little off of one, and then I totally messed up the tunnel (turn), but I've got a great race car. My guys did a really good job, but, admittedly, it's very difficult to practice yesterday and run a really good lap and then come back 24 hours later and run that perfect lap again.
"I think a couple guys are gonna go fast if the track cleans off, but it is a little treacherous out there. I've got to give credit to Joey. He did a really good job."
Paul Menard, who won the Brickyard 400 last year, will start third in a Chevrolet at 178.582 mph. He may be considered a favourite as the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway - called the Tricky Triangle - is considered a comparable race track even if it has only three corners.
"They are more similar now; the grip level is a lot closer," Menard explained. "Indy is probably the track that has the most grip that we go to. They do an excellent job with the surface.
"Obviously, this track has a lot more grip now so they are a lot similar. Car wise, set-up wise and what the car needs isn't the same yet but it's closer.
"I haven't really thought a lot about what we did at Indy outside of it's the same type of deal you just have to get off the corners and carry speed down these long straightaways. That is what I have been working on during the test and during the practices."
Kyle Busch, Logano's teammate will start fourth, and Denny Hamlin, another teammate is fifth followed by the Toyota of Mark Martin.
David Reutimann is driving the Phoenix Racing car in place of Kurt Busch who is serving a one-race suspension. David Stremme failed to qualify for the 400-mile race which was reduced from 500 miles.