Joey Logano captures Daytona 500 pole

Feb. 17—DAYTONA — Joey Logano proved to have the fastest of the all-new Ford Dark Horse Mustangs in Wednesday's qualification trials for Sunday's Daytona 500.

The hard-driving, two-time NASCAR Cup champion and 2015 Daytona 500 winner drove his new No. 22 Team Penske Shell-Pennzoil Mustang to a top speed of 181.947 mph to edge fellow Ford Mustang driver Michael McDowell's speed of 181.686 mph in his bright yellow No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Loves Travel Centers Ford Mustang.

By turning in the top two qualifying times, Logano and 2022 Daytona 500 winner McDowell both lock into front row starting positions for Sunday's 65th running of the "Great American Race." The remainder of the 40-car field is set in Thursday's twin 125-mile qualifying races.

Emerging from his bright yellow No. 22 Team Penske Mustang, an elated Logano quickly realized his qualifying effort had earned the first Daytona 500 pole position for Team owner Roger Penske, and he quickly gave his No. 22 Penske Team all the credit saying, "This is all about the team! I'd like to take the credit, but I can't today. These guys have done such an amazing job working on these cars. This superspeedway qualifying is 100% car."

"There is only so much the driver can do, so I'm really proud of them. It's a big win for our team, for everyone at Team Penske, Ford and their new Dark Horse Mustang," Logano said.

The two new, yellow Dark Horse Mustangs of 2015 Daytona 500 winner Logano and 2022 Daytona 500 winner McDowell will lead the field to the green flag at 2:30 p.m. Sunday (ET-Fox Sports). Will there be a new or repeat winner when the smoke clears after 500 miles in NASCAR's most important and prestigious race kicking off the new 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season?

Contact Aaron Kirchoff at aaron.kirchoff@greensburgdailynews.com.