Starting Spot Doesn’t Worry Logano

Joey Logano gets ready during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Oral-B USA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on August 30, 2014 in Hampton, Georgia. (Getty Images)
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Joey Logano gets ready during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Oral-B USA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on August 30, 2014 in Hampton, Georgia. (Getty Images)
Joey Logano gets ready during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Oral-B USA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on August 30, 2014 in Hampton, Georgia. (Getty Images)

HAMPTON, Ga.—In Friday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying session at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Joey Logano failed to make the final session of knockout time trials for the first time on an open-motor track.

Logano qualified 14th for Sunday’s Oral-B USA 500 at the 1.54-mile track, but the winner of last week’s Bristol race isn’t particularly concerned about his starting position. Logano’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford was fast enough to pace Saturday’s first Sprint Cup practice session with a lap at 189.351 mph.

“You have to go fast for a long time here, but we were OK, even on the long runs, Logano said after the session, which was truncated by an afternoon rainstorm. “We never put new tires on it, so we kind of just kept working,

“We’ll see. I think the 4 car (of pole winner Kevin Harvick) is super-fast, but I don’t think we’re far behind him.”

Kenseth Looking For A Win

Matt Kenseth is a likely Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifier whether he wins one of the final two regular-season races or not, but the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota would rather solidify his Chase berth with a victory.

In final Sprint Cup practice at Atlanta, Kenseth was headed in the right direction. He was fastest in the Happy Hour with a lap at 188.251 mph. Given that Atlanta is a track where the Gibbs cars traditionally have excelled, Kenseth has to like his chances in race trim on Sunday night.

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.