By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service
DARLINGTON, S.C. – Déjà vu will be just fine for Joey Logano.
The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford won the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series spring event at Darlington Raceway from the pole.
After edging Christopher Bell for the top starting position in Saturday’s time trials, Logano will have a chance to repeat the feat in Sunday’s Playoff opener, the Cook Out Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
In the final round of qualifying, Logano negotiated the 1.366-mile egg-shaped speedway in 29.181 seconds (168.521 mph) and waited to see if the lap would hold up.
The last driver to make a qualifying run, Bell (168.469 mph) lost time in Turns 3 and 4 and fell just .009 seconds short of Logano’s time.
“I love winning,” exalted Logano, who earned his second Busch Light Pole Award of the season and the 24th of his career. “When you fire off in the Playoffs, you want to have a good start to it. This (No. 1) pit stall here is so important—it really helped us win the race here in the spring.
“(Crew chief) Paul (Wolfe) did a good job adjusting on our car from the spring race and even from practice as well. We keep trying to find the speed and got a couple of poles here at Darlington this year.”
Logano completed the first season sweep of pole positions at the Lady in Black since Sterling Marlin accomplished the feat in 1992. Marlin, however, finished 22nd and 28th in the two races.
Logano and Bell were two of eight Playoff drivers who advanced to the final round of qualifying. The exceptions were eighth-place qualifier Bubba Wallace, who is competing for the owners’ championship in the No. 45 23XI Toyota, and 10th-place Michael McDowell.
William Byron (168.186 mph) will start third on Sunday beside Tyler Reddick (167.853 mph). Kyle Busch claimed the fifth position on the grid, and Austin Cindric will start sixth. Reigning series champion Kyle Larson was seventh and Ryan Blaney ninth.
Regular-season champion Chase Elliott qualified 23rd.
The No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet of Playoff driver Daniel Suarez failed pre-qualifying inspection three times. Suarez was not allowed to qualify and will start from the rear of the field on Sunday.
In addition, the No. 99 Camaro must serve a pass-through penalty after taking the green flag. Suarez also lost pit selection and the services of car chief Eddie d’Hondt Jr. for the Playoff…
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