Joey Logano deems All-Star pole “most special of the year”

NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 - Qualifying
NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 - Qualifying

Joey Logano is the first of the 20 drivers competing in the 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race to lock himself in for the first Heat Race as well as the final event at North Wilkesboro Speedway - thanks to his pole-winning qualifying speed. Logano considers it the most special pole of the year.

In an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, the two-time NASCAR Cup Series winner said,

"I think it's the most special pole of the year the way they have the rules set up. You think about how it takes the whole team to do it all the way through. You've got to set the lights right, the engineers and everyone... before you even get to the racetrack, it's so important to make sure we get all the speed out of the car and on the pit road."

Although having a fast car is a necessity, that is not everything that matters in this sport. NASCAR races are won through teamwork.

"It takes everything to make it happen and I think that's what makes this so special is that the most challenging minute-and-a-half qualifying session you could have ever asked for," Logano explained further. "It just takes so much work to go into all that and making sure you maximize it... not go too much, right, you go a little bit too far and you get a penalty and it's over."

Logano completed all three attempts in just 89.754 seconds at a speed of 75.206 miles per hour. He beat fellow Ford pilot and last week's winner Brad Keselowski by 0.386 seconds.

Joey Logano's pit crew was the fifth fastest on the pit road. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell's team clinched the Pit Crew Challenge win with a pit stop of 13.223 seconds. Today, Logano sits 17th in the Cup Series standings with 292 points, 30 points behind the cut-off line for the 2024 playoffs.


Unlike the All-Star race, Joey Logano considers Charlotte a gamble

The hype around this year's Coca-Cola 600 is skyrocketing. However, Joey Logano has no straightforward opinion on how his team could run in this year's Coca-Cola 600.

Joey Logano during the All-Star Race practice at North Wilkesboro Speedway
Joey Logano during the All-Star Race practice at North Wilkesboro Speedway

According to him, it could go to anybody:

"Charlotte, yeah, who knows, right? Blaney had a really good run there last year. Maybe we can hit on something there, too," Logano recently told NASCAR. "There’s no doubt the mile-and-a-halfs have been a weakness of ours, but you also look at what RFK (Racing) has done in the last couple of weeks..."

Nevertheless, Logano is confident in his team as the upcoming event at North Wilkesboro Speedway draws closer.

"I mean, we ran in the top five most of the race last week, so I feel solid about that," he said, recalling last weekend's race at Darlington. "I feel solid about this weekend and Wilkesboro after the test here. I think we should be pretty strong."

Logano's last win at the Charlotte ROVAL dates back to 21 May, 2016. In his last five starts at Charlotte, the Ford driver has finished 21st, 20th, 17th, 6th and 13th. His last Cup victory came at the 2023 Ambetter Health 400.

Will Joey Logano grab his second All-Star race win and with that, his first win in over a year on Sunday? Only time will tell.

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