Joey Logano captured his second pole of the season during NASCAR Cup Series qualifying at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, on Saturday.
Logano held off Aric Almirola, who finished just 0.019 seconds behind and will start on the outside of Row 1 in the FireKeepers Casino 400 on Sunday:
Here is a rundown of the full qualifying order, courtesy of NASCAR.com (times in seconds):
1. Joey Logano: 38.474
2. Aric Almirola: 38.493
3. Kevin Harvick: 38.522
4. Denny Hamlin: 38.526
5. Clint Bowyer: 38.549
6. Paul Menard: 38.573
7. Kurt Busch: 38.590
8. Brad Keselowski: 38.605
9. Daniel Suarez: 38.612
10. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: 38.620
11. Daniel Hemric: 38.632
12. Austin Dillon: 38.639
13. Ryan Blaney: 38.661
14. Erik Jones: 38.705
15. Kyle Busch: 38.714
16. Martin Truex Jr.: 38.714
17. Chase Elliott: 38.732
18. Ryan Newman: 38.792
19. Jimmie Johnson: 38.793
20. Alex Bowman: 38.878
21. William Byron: 38.925
22. Kyle Larson: 38.927
23. Michael McDowell: 38.927
24. David Ragan: 38.963
25. Ty Dillon: 39.030
26. Matt Tifft: 39.040
27. Bubba Wallace: 39.122
28. Ryan Preece: 39.191
29. Matt DiBenedetto: 39.271
30. Landon Cassill: 39.274
31. Chris Buescher: 39.296
32. Corey Lajoie: 39.401
33. Kyle Weatherman: 39.801
34. Josh Bilicki: 40.177
35. Quin Houff: 40.271
36. Garrett Smithley: 40.435
Logano is a two-time winner at Michigan, and both wins came from the pole. Knowing that, Logano discussed the importance of starting on the inside of Row 1:
Meanwhile, Almirola expressed confidence about his car entering Sunday's race:
Kyle Busch, who leads the NASCAR Cup Series in points and in wins with four, only managed to qualify in 15th. Because of that, Logano has a legitimate chance to pass him in the points standings Sunday.
Logano is second in the standings and trails Busch by just four points. Busch also has just one win in 28 career starts at Michigan, making it one of the few tracks he hasn't dominated over the years.
Among drivers with at least seven career starts at Michigan, Logano has the best average finish at 12.5 behind only Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick.
Harvick is still in search of his first win of 2019, but he has a good chance to get it Sunday since he is starting third. Keselowski could tie Busch with his fourth win of the season if he is able to pick up the victory from the eighth starting spot.
Saturday was a big day for Stewart-Haas Racing, as all four of its drivers qualified ninth or better. Almirola (second), Harvick (third), Clint Bowyer (fifth) and Daniel Suarez (ninth) are all strong candidates to take the checkered flag Sunday.
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