KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Joey Logano hopped out of his car and jokingly thanked his Penske Racing team for all the wise adjustments they made before he qualified on the pole for Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway.
The truth was they changed absolutely nothing.
“We made zero changes from the time we unloaded to qualifying,” Logano said after his lap of 191.646 mph. “They did a great job of preparing the car.”
Logano heads into the final race before the playoff field is cut from 12 to eight with a 39-point buffer, so it’s not as if he’s in trouble. But starting up front allows him to chase stage points early, and that could eliminate some of the pressure later in the race.
“It helps a little bit. We want to be able to score some stage points to start,” he said, “but hopefully we don’t have to worry about points and we can just go win the race.”
Kevin Harvick is in similar shape after qualifying second, while fellow playoff drivers Aric Almirola, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top five.
Keselowski is the first driver outside the playoff cutoff.
Kyle Busch, who sits between Harvick and Logano in the playoff standings, will start sixth after a solid effort at a track he’s slowly grown to love. Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex Jr. are on the bubble, and Bowyer will start 14th, while Truex, the reigning series champion, will start 12th.
Alex Bowman and Kurt Busch rounded out the top 10. Kyle Larson crashed his primary car in practice and officially qualified 27th, though he’ll be sent to the back on Sunday.
Larson’s appeal of a rules violation from last week’s race at Talladega was denied, a blow to the Chip Ganassi Racing driver’s chances of advancing in the playoffs.
Larson was docked 10 points, crew chiefs Chad Johnston was fined $25,000 and car chief David Bryant was suspended for Sunday’s race after officials determined the team used unapproved metal tabs, in violation of NASCAR’s policy on damaged vehicles.
FORMULA ONE: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton’s fastest lap on a wet morning held up as the best of the day at U.S. Grand Prix practice in Austin, Texas.
The fading title hopes of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel took a big hit when he was given a three-place starting grid penalty for driving too fast under a red flag in the morning. Vettel must win Sunday or finish within seven points of Hamilton to extend the championship race to next week in Mexico City.
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