SONOMA - Joey Logano, not known for his road racing prowess, surprised the pack with a near-perfect lap to grab the pole during Friday's NASCAR qualifying for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway.
In the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota, Logano zipped a 93.256 mph lap, the best of 44 entries. Jamie McMurray qualified second with a 93.223 mph lap in the No. 1 McDonald's Chevrolet. Completing the top three was Paul Menard in the No. 27 Duracell Chevrolet.
Logano, who turned 21 last month, seemed as shocked as anyone by his performance. It was only the second pole of his Sprint Cup career.
"I was very surprised," Logano said. "We thought this was going to be a tough one, but my guys were awesome. This is the last place I ever thought we'd get a pole. I never thought of myself as a road racer before."
In two prior starts in Northern California's only NASCAR Sprint Cup race, Logano had never started better than 12th. He finished 33rd in this race last year.
But as such race favorites as Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick gambled in Friday's qualifying without success, Logano's smooth run earned the pole for his Joe Gibbs Racing team.
"I didn't think it was stellar by any means, but it held up," Logano said."We needed a good momentum change and this will help us a lot."
The top qualifiers appreciated Friday's cool, 70-degree weather.
"I couldn't believe the grip the track had today," McMurray said. "I was really pleased."
"When we unloaded this morning, I did not expect to qualify in the top five," Menard added. "But we kept making little adjustments."
Rounding out the top five were Logano's Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota) and Ryan Newman (No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet).
The Toyota/Save Mart 350 starts at noon Sunday. Tickets and more information are available at www.infineonraceway.com.
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