Joey Logano describes his ‘intense’ pole lap at Sonoma - “You’re just on a ragged edge the whole time”

Joey Logano won his third pole of the season at Sonoma Raceway; also the 31st of his career. Moments after recording the fastest lap at 97.771 miles per hour, Logano recalled his run and reflected on the intensity of the same.

Logano eyes his first point-paying race victory of 2024. However, his last win came in this year's All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Nevertheless, Joey Logano's number 22 Mustang was the fastest during the qualifying session at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday. The Team Penske driver will start Sunday's 110-lap event alongside Tyler Reddick, who was merely 0.083 second behind the two-time Cup Series champion.

During a post-qualifying interview, the Ford pilot described the nature of the qualifiers and said, as reported by motorsport.com:

"We got ourselves a pole on a road course. It was an intense lap out there. You’re just on a ragged edge the whole time."

Logano lauded his team for their efforts. If Logano wins Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350, it will be the second consecutive victory for Team Penske after Austin Cindric clinched a surprise victory in last week's Enjoy Illinois 300 at the Gateway.

"It’s nice to see the Penske cars running good again and the Fords as well,” Logano said. “I’m proud of my team. We made a lot of changes overnight. It’s nice to have had practice and you can go back and think about it overnight."

With 10 races to go till the playoffs, Logano stands 14th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings with 358 points to his credit. The 34-year-old has amassed one top 5 and five top 10s so far.

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Joey Logano went candid on how differently Sonoma races after the repave

Joey Logano feels the racing at the 1.99-mile racetrack has changed a lot since it underwent the repave earlier this year. Earlier, 'tire wear' and Sonoma used to be synonymous. However, it is not the same anymore.

"This race is gonna be a lot different than what it was in the past here,” Logano told NASCAR. “You think about what it used to be here with a lot of tire wear. Now, the tires seem to last fairly long, so that can adjust the strategy quite a bit from what it used to be here."

With the option of capitalizing on fresh tires as often out of the picture, the teams and the crew chiefs will need to conjure other strategies to gain spots in the race.

"There are a lot of different options for the crew chiefs to try to make up their mind on how to play out the race, and time will tell," Logano explained.

The nature of the track is not the only thing that has changed lately. The K-rails on the inside of turn 11 have been replaced with rubber tire barriers. Now, how these changes work for current NASCAR drivers like Joey Logano is indeed worth watching.