Michigan pole victory a good sign for Logano

Joey Logano won the pole at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn — and lately at this track, that has been a pretty good indicator of things to come.

It’s Logano’s third pole in 16 Cup races at MIS, and the previous two times he won the pole, he also went on to win the race. That includes his victory in June at Michigan.

In fact, three of the past four race winners at Michigan also took the pole — Logano this year, Matt Kenseth a year ago and Jeff Gordon in August 2014.

“Obviously starting up front here is an advantage for sure when you talk about track position and safety on restarts, being how crazy it is with the low-downforce package on restarts,” Logano said. “Having the first pit stall is probably the most important of all that.”

Logano won Friday with a lap of 201.698 mph in his No. 22 Ford. Jimmie Johnson was second in qualifying for the race, which is Sunday, followed by Denny Hamlin.

Logano has won 17 poles in his Cup career and three in 2016.

Formula One

Starting from the back row at the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps will do little for Lewis Hamilton’s chances of a 50th career race win. But it will bring back exciting memories of his childhood days racing against the odds in karts.

“I had a really bad gokart when I started and always had to start last because it was so bad, and then I drove through the field,” Hamilton, 31, said. “I hope I still know how to do it.”

Hamilton took a 15place grid penalty Friday in the morning practice session for having changed too many engine parts this season, and was then handed a further 15place penalty after another component change in the afternoon.

That means he will start Sunday from the back row along with McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, who incurred a 35-place grid penalty for a similar array of component changes. Final qualifying is today.

Hamilton, chasing a third consecutive F1 title and fourth overall, won at Spa a year ago. A repeat win is a long shot — even for Hamilton — but since Spa is the longest track in F1 at 4.3 miles and is very fast, it should help him pick up valuable points.

Hamilton has a 19-point lead over Nico Rosberg, his Mercedes rival, in the title race. Rosberg is seeking his fifth win of the season, and first at Spa.

“That Nico has never won here doesn’t make any difference to me,” Hamilton said. “I just focus on my job.”

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen posted the fastest time in the second practice ahead of his teammate Daniel Ricciardo, boosting Red Bull’s hopes of a second win this season after Verstappen’s brilliant victory in Spain.