Joey Logano drew the pole for Saturday’s Firekeepers Casino 400, the first of a two-race NASCAR Cup Series doubleheader at Michigan International Speedway. Logano is a three-time winner at Michigan, including last year’s installment of the Firekeepers Casino 400.
“It’s been a great race track for us in the past, a track that seems to kind of fit my style and what I look to do on a race track,” Logano said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what setups Paul [Wolfe, crew chief] can come up with and what we’ll have here for these two races. When I look at the Team Penske cars there, we were all pretty good there last year. The Fords in general were really good.”
Ford teams drew four of the top-five starting positions, with Toyota driver Denny Hamlin drawing the second starting spot to start next to Logano on the front row. Hamlin is a two-time winner at Michigan and leads the Cup Series in wins, 20 races into the season, with five.
“We’re coming off a second-place finish last weekend at New Hampshire and heading to a track where we finished second the last time we were there,” Hamlin said. “The last time we were at Michigan, we had a really fast FedEx Camry, but just needed a little more speed at the end to catch Kevin [Harvick]. We made adjustments throughout the race to get better and had a fast Camry, but just needed a little more. It would be nice to back up the strong season we are having with two wins this weekend for FedEx and help Toyota take home the Heritage Trophy.”
Kevin Harvick, who trails only Hamlin in 2020 wins with four, drew the third starting position. Harvick is the most recent Michigan winner, winning the second of two races at the track in 2019. He’ll share the second row with Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Aric Almirola.
Logano’s Team Penske teammate, Brad Keselowski, drew the fifth starting position for the first race at his home track. The Rochester Hills, Mich., native heads into the MIS weekend as the series’ most recent winner, claiming his third victory of the season the previous weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Logano’s home track. Keselowski, though, is winless at his home track.
“It’s a love-hate relationship in a lot of ways, because I really hated leaving there the last few times knowing how close we’ve been to winning and not being able to win,” Keselowski said of his feelings for Michigan International Speedway. “But, obviously, it’s a love relationship. I love going there and feeling like I’m back where I grew up. There’s a lot of nostalgia that comes up in doing that and seeing family members and friends, but I just want to win there so bad, and I know we’ve been so close. I know it’s right there at the tip of my fingertips, and I haven’t been able to reach it. Every time I go there, I’m just hopeful that this is the time and this is the year, and I think there’s a good chance that might be this year, so we’ll see.”
Keselowski will share the third row on the grid with Alex Bowman.
The top-12 teams in owner points participated in the drawing for the top-12 starting positions. Drawing spots seventh through 12th were Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr.
