Nascar Race Today

For the 2nd straight week we have a @Team_Penske front row! This week it's @joeylogano on the #CoorsLight Pole! http://ift.tt/1k1Sluv

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LAS VEGAS -- These Penske cars have this knockout qualifying format figured out.

For the second time in two weeks of elimination-style qualifying, Penske Racing swept the front row.

Joey Logano won the pole Friday afternoon for the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Brad Keselowski will start alongside his Penske teammate on Sunday.

Last week at Phoenix International Raceway, in the first race featuring NASCAR's new knockout qualifying format, Keselowski won the pole and Logano started second.

"To have a Penske front row the last two weekends at two completely different racetracks just goes to show how hard these guys have been working, and when you work hard, results come," Logano said. "We haven't won on Sunday yet ... but we've had some good speed in our cars. ... We're here to win this year, and we're trying to prove it."

Keselowski held the provisional pole briefly in the third and final qualifying segment Friday before Logano bumped his teammate with a minute to go, setting down a track-record 27.939-second lap (193.278 mph) on the 1.5-mile tri-oval. Keselowski had checked in at 27.965 seconds (193.099 mph), which was a short-lived track record.

"We've been very fortunate," Keselowski said of the Penske qualifying machine. "The cars are fast and I don't think it's much more difficult than that. When you have fast cars, it makes your life a lot easier."

Clint Bowyer, the first driver out in the final five-minute qualifying session, will start third after clocking a 28.021-second lap at 192.713 mph. Austin Dillon will start fourth, followed by Jimmie Johnson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Jamie McMurray, Aric Almirola, Brian Vickers and Ryan Newman.

It was the Cup series' first attempt at elimination-style qualifying on a 1.5-mile track. Tracks 1.25 miles and longer require three qualifying segments to set the race grid. Shorter tracks such as Phoenix feature only two segments.

Friday at Vegas, the fastest 24 cars advanced to the second session, with the fastest 12 from that pool making the five-minute shootout for the pole.

Vickers had set a then-track record in winning the first segment, turning a 27.980-second lap at 192.995 mph. Among the notables who did not advance out of that session were Greg Biffle, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth.

Logano was fasted in the second qualifying segment.

Blake Koch, Landon Cassill, J.J. Yeley, Dave Blaney and Joe Nemecheck failed to make the field for Sunday's race.

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