While drivers may have to deal with significant rain Saturday at Richmond International Raceway, the track was dry Friday for qualifying. Joey Logano ran the fastest lap of Round 3 and won the pole for the Toyota Owners 400.
He grabbed the top spot at the 0.75-mile track in Richmond, Va. with a speed of 127.071 mph, slightly faster than local favorite Denny Hamlin (126.796 mph).
MORE: Memorable photos of Richmond | Race lineup | Preview | That Moment When . . . Junior spins, Bowyer wins
"The guys did a great job getting us faster today," Logano told reporters. "It is fun because you go out and run all these laps and that lap didn’t even actually feel that good because you have seven or eight laps on your tires and the car is sliding around a lot so it is funny that the pole-sitting car is sliding all over the place, but everyone is on old tires out there.”
Hamlin has dominated at Richmond. In 17 starts he has amassed the series-best driver rating (110.7), fastest laps run (597) and green-flag speed (116.498 mph). He also owns two wins, two poles, seven top fives and nine top 10s.
Kurt Busch will start on the inside of Row 2 as he seeks his third top five finish since returning from a suspension for a domestic incident.
MORE: Power Rankings after Bristol | Richmond odds
AJ Allmendinger will start fourth, while defending Cup champion and current points leader Kevin Harvick will begin fifth. Harvick has a record 28 races without a DNF at Richmond and has an 8.2 average finish in his last 10 races at the D-shaped oval.
Martin Truex Jr. snapped his streak of seven consecutive top 10s at Bristol last weekend, but will be in great position to start a new streak as he qualified sixth.
Brad Keselowski, who won last year’s fall race from the pole, will begin seventh.
Joe Gibbs Racing, which is vying for its third consecutive short-track win, will be in great position to do so with Hamlin starting second; last week's winner, Matt Kenseth, starting eighth; David Ragan qualifying 10th, and Carl Edwards beginning 18th.
MORE: J.D. Gibbs' health issues a rallying point for race team
Jeff Gordon, who has quietly recorded five consecutive top 10s (the longest streak in Sprint Cup), will begin 11th. He owns two victories at Richmond and leads active drivers there in poles (six), top five finishes (18) and laps led (1,637). In his past 11 races at the track, he has placed in the top three six times.
Gordon’s announced 2016 replacement, Chase Elliott, qualified 16th for his second Cup start of the season.
For the second week in a row, six-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson had trouble getting loose in qualifying. He started 28th at Bristol and will begin 37th at Richmond.
His Hendrick teammates Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne also struggled in qualifying, finishing in 26th and 40th, respectfully.
Jeb Burton and Brendan Gaughan failed to qualify for the race.