Joey Logano wins Pennzoil 400 pole award at Las Vegas one week after glove penalty

Well, it turns out Joey Logano doesn’t need a glove with webbing to qualify well. He just won the pole award for the NASCAR Pennzoil 400. The 22 Pennzoil car will lead its title-sponsored race to the green flag.

The Dark Horse Mustang still looks fast in qualifying. Team Penske almost had a front row with Austin Cindric, but he ended up P3 after Kyle Larson’s run in the final qualifying round.

A week after he was penalized for having an illegal glove with added finger webbing, Joey Logano puts his car on the pole. He has now won two of the three pole awards, and has made the front row in qualifying (prior to penalties at Atlanta) in all three events.

Logano is the first driver since Ricky Rudd in 2000 to achieve that feat.

REPOST to congratulate @joeylogano!

He wins his 30th career pole and 2nd of the season! #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/0xWORfJED2

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) March 2, 2024

Joey Logano now has three pole awards at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This is his second in a row in the Pennzoil 400. The top-10 were a strong mix of manufacturers and teams.

The top-10 lineup: Logano, Larson, Cindric, William Byron, Bubba Wallace, Chase Briscoe, Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, Chris Buescher, and Christopher Bell.

It’s been a strong showing from Team Penske and Ford as a whole to start the season.

Joey Logano needs a strong finish

With two disappointing finishes to start the year, Joey Logano needs to finish strong in Las Vegas. P32 at Daytona and P28 at Atlanta have left Logano with just 18 total points this season. 31st in the points, Logano has to do something different.

Starting out in front, Logano will have control of the race early. He should pick up stage points fairly easily. From there, it’s up to him to finish in the top-5 and pick up a ton of points, if not score a win on Sunday.

Going back to Team Penske, Austin Cindric has shown a ton of improvement this season. Cindric is tied for second in points with William Byron and has a top-5 finish on the year. HE led 32 laps last week in Atlanta and will now start P3.

When both of your teammates have Cup Series championships, back-to-back between the two of them, you have to perform at a high level. Cindric has responded early this season and now has a chance to continue his momentum in the Pennozil 400. Look for him to try and work with Joey Logano early in this race and get stage points as well.