Joey Logano’s quest to become the first back-to-back NASCAR Cup Series champion since Jimmie Johnson capped off his fifth consecutive championship in 2010 has reached the Round of 12 of the Playoffs in 2025, and the driver will kick off the round from the pole position in the Mobil 1 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Starting Lineup: Mobil 1 301 at New Hampshire
On Saturday afternoon, Logano rocketed to his 33rd career NASCAR Cup Series pole on the strength of a 29.159-second (130.622 mph) lap time around the 1.058-mile oval in Loudon, NH. The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse easily cruised to the pole by a margin of 0.170 seconds.
The margin between Logano and the runner-up qualifier was eye-opening, as qualifying has been a tight battle seemingly every week this season. Logano credits his crew chief and team for the solid qualifying effort.
“I’ve got a great group of guys. [Crew chief] Paul [Wolfe] knows how to help me get the car good to where it needs to be. The guys do a good job of getting the Shell Pennzoil Mustang fast. Man, it’s my home track. It feels so good to run well here. And a good starting spot. Obviously, in the Playoffs, it matters most right now. Hopefully, we’re able to capitalize tomorrow. We’ve got a good pit stall if nothing else.”
Ryan Blaney, Logano’s teammate and fellow Playoff contender, locked up a front row sweep for Team Penske as he slotted in second overall in qualifying with a lap time of 29.329 seconds. Blaney was happy to clock in P2 in qualifying, but he feels even more bullish on his No. 12 car’s race pace, which they displayed in practice earlier in the day.
Related: NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Standings
“Yeah, I feel good for tomorrow. I was happy with our race run in practice,” Blaney said. “I was fairly happy about our run in qualifying. I didn’t know what Joey ran, he went out right in front of me. And I knew what Josh ran, I knew what I had to beat. I thought I was close until I looked at the time, and I’m a tenth-and-a-half [of a second] off of Joey. What a heck of a lap for that group and him.”
To put a bow on the incredible session for Team Penske, Josh Berry, who drives the affiliated No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford, was able to take the third starting spot for Sunday’s Mobil 1 301. Berry, who was eliminated from the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs last weekend at Bristol after scoring last-place finishes in all three races in the Round of 16, hopes this weekend will be a turnaround.
“It was a really solid lap, and yeah, starting third, it’s obviously a great starting spot for us. It’s been a tough couple of weeks,” Berry explained. “These guys are working really hard. Just want to thank everybody at the Wood Brothers, Team Penske, Motorcraft/QuickLane, eero, DEX, all of our partners, everybody at Ford. We’re going to keep after it.”
Playoff contenders Tyler Reddick and William Byron, who each made the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 a season ago, had great qualifying runs as well, and will start from the fourth and fifth positions, respectively.
Carson Hocevar, who is still seeking his first career NASCAR Cup Series win, will start from the sixth position ahead of Alex Bowman, Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, and Shane van Gisbergen, who finally has an optimistic start to a race weekend at an oval track with a great qualifying effort.
The lone Team Penske car not at the front of the field for the start of Sunday’s race will be Austin Cindric, who actually had a great qualifying lap going until he got loose in Turns 3 and 4, which ruined his lap time.
He was in the green …
And then he wasn't. pic.twitter.com/foNCmq8mgD
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 20, 2025
Cindric will be one of the two Playoff drivers who will start from outside the top 20 on Sunday. Cindric, who enters the weekend one point below the Playoff cutline, will start from the 22nd position.
Chase Elliott recorded the worst qualifying run of the 12 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff contenders as he locked up the 27th starting position. Elliott comes into Sunday’s race five points above the Playoff cutline.
Starting Positions for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff contenders:
Joey Logano (1st), Ryan Blaney (2nd), Tyler Reddick (4th), William Byron (5th), Ross Chastain (8th), Denny Hamlin (9th), Bubba Wallace (14th), Kyle Larson (16th), Chase Briscoe (18th), Christopher Bell (19th), Austin Cindric (22nd), and Chase Elliott (27th).
