Joey Logano beat out Aric Almirola on Saturday to capture the pole for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia.
The pole marks the first of the season for Logano, who is just a few weeks removed from picking up his first win of the year in Las Vegas:
Here is a full rundown of Saturday's qualifying results at The Paperclip, courtesy of NASCAR.com (time in seconds):
1. Joey Logano: 19.356
2. Aric Almirola: 19.393
3. Brad Keselowski: 19.430
4. Kevin Harvick: 19.445
5. Denny Hamlin: 19.449
6. William Byron: 19.481
7. Kyle Larson: 19.502
8. Chase Elliott: 19.511
9. Martin Truex Jr.: 19.518
10. Daniel Suarez: 19.556
11. Clint Bowyer: 19.581
12. Jimmie Johnson: 19.608
13. Chris Buescher: 19.571
14. Kyle Busch: 19.579
15. Paul Menard: 19.583
16. Ryan Preece: 19.588
17. Alex Bowman: 19.593
18. Ryan Blaney: 19.602
19. Erik Jones: 19.602
20. Kurt Busch: 19.623
21. Ryan Newman: 19.626
22. Matt DiBenedetto: 19.630
23. Ty Dillon: 19.652
24. Michael McDowell: 19.695
25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: 19.664
26. David Ragan: 19.703
27. Bubba Wallace: 19.742
28. Landon Cassill: 19.785
29. Daniel Hemric: 19.807
30. Austin Dillon: 19.814
31. Ross Chastain: 19.846
32. Matt Tifft: 19.846
33. Jeb Burton: 19.998
34. D.J. Kennington: 20.013
35. Corey Lajoie: 0.000
36. Cody Ware: 0.000
Per Jeff Gluck of JeffGluck.com, Logano's pole was the continuation of his long history of success in qualifying at Martinsville:
Logano won the fall race at Martinsville last season, and his average finish of 13.2 at the track is fifth-best among active drivers behind only Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch.
After securing the pole, Logano expressed how much he enjoys running at Martinsville:
Most big-name drivers made it through the first round of qualifying Saturday, although Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Austin Dillon weren't so fortunate, as they qualified 25th and 30th, respectively.
Stenhouse narrowly missed reaching the second round by one spot, and he admitted that it was a disappointing performance:
More top stars faltered in the second round than the first with Kyle Busch standing out most in that regard. He will start in the 14th position, which is somewhat surprising since he is coming off two consecutive victories.
Ryan Blaney also struggled in the second round and qualified 18th, but he did well to prevent disaster from striking when his car got loose:
Most of the drivers who are considered top championship contenders made it to the final round of qualifying, but none of them could hang with Logano, who posted a top speed of 97.830 mph.
Almirola's performance may have raised the most eyebrows since he is off to a great start this season with four top-10 finishes in five races, which has him sixth in the standings.
While Almirola only has two career Cup Series wins, his performance so far this season and in qualifying Saturday suggests he will be a threat to win Sunday.
With Logano's track record at Martinsville, however, there is little doubt that he is the driver to beat entering the STP 500.
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