News

LONG POND, PA (June 6, 2014) – Team Penske continued their impressive qualifying performance over the course of the 2014 season, placing both team cars in the top-seven in Friday afternoon’s qualifying session at Pocono Raceway.

Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Redd’s Apple Ale Ford Fusion, will start from the third position in Sunday’s Pocono 400.  Keselowski ran a lap of 49.637 seconds (181.316 mph) around the 2.5-mile, three-turn oval.  Keselowski was 16th in the first session and second in the second session before posting the third-best lap in the final round.

“We were just all really close on speed and it was going to be curious to see who would get the top spot,” said Keselowski.  “I didn’t think Denny (Hamlin, the pole sitter) was that fast, but I knew Kurt (Busch) was and he put up a good lap. I feel like we put up a decent lap as well; we were just a tiny bit short. On a 2.5-mile track, that is pretty dang close. We have a lot to be proud of with the efforts and we are qualifying well every week.  That is helpful because we will get a good pit stall from that which is always important as well.”

Joey Logano will start seventh after posting a lap of 50.048 seconds (179.827 mph) in the final session. It continued Logano’s streak of making the final round in each of the “knockout” qualifying sessions this season not counting the restrictor-plate session at Talladega.

“That is about where we thought we were going to end up,” said Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford.  “I knew of a place I left about a tenth out there, but even with that tenth, we would have been in the same position.  I feel good about that. It’s a top-10 spot and it should get us a decent pit stall.  We were able to run a little bit in race trim earlier today, so we have a pretty good place to start tomorrow in practice.”

The Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway will air live Sunday, June 8 at 1:00 p.m. ET on TNT. Race coverage will also be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90.