AUTO RACING roundup

NASCAR SPRINT CUP

Logano wins pole at Michigan

BROOKLYN, MICH.

Joey Logano improved his chances of racing to his first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory of the year, posting a lap of 199.557 mph Friday to win the pole at Michigan International Speedway.

Logano said the cars are “out of control,” on the two-mile oval.

“It’s a lot of fun,” he insisted. “You’re booking down to the corners at 200 and something.”

Logano, who won 11 times the previous two years, will start first for the second time this year and the 16th in his career.

“Track position always plays when you’re making decisions,” he said.

Martin Truex Jr. will start second, his ninth start among the top 10 this season. Tony Stewart, who plans to retire at the end of the season, will start third in the 40-car race in his best qualifying performance of the year.

A new aerodynamic package along with wide and slick 2-mile oval, which had drivers going “sideways,” according to Truex, should set up for quite a race.

“Sunday is going to be a blast,” Truex said. “With that sun being on the racetrack all day, it’s going to be slick and fun.”

Truex was among 26 drivers who failed their initial NASCAR pre-qualifying inspection due to not meeting the new aerodynamic guidelines that are debuting this week. His qualifying run almost did not happen because his car failed NASCAR pre-qualifying inspection twice due to not meeting the new aero guidelines. His crew was able to get the car approved just as the qualifying was starting.

Logano was the second in qualifying the last two weeks at Charlotte and Pocono.

“The latest couple of ones have stung a lot,” he acknowledged. “We’ve won the first two rounds and come in second in the last one. So we figured it out. We won the same amount of rounds, but the right one. This is the one that counts.”

FORMULA ONE

Hamilton fastest qualifier at CGV

MONTREAL

Ever since his first career victory in Montreal as a Formula One rookie in 2007, Lewis Hamilton has taken a liking to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Four times he has arrived at the track on the Ile Notre Dame and earned the pole position. Four times he has taken the checkered flag as the winner — including last year, en route to his second consecutive Formula One championship.

“The track is fantastic to drive,” said Hamilton, who posted the fastest times in both practice sessions on Friday. “I just like it.”

Hamilton arrived at the seventh race of the season trailing Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg by 24 points in the championship race, but his success over the 2.71-mile (4.36-km) road course could help him close the gap considerably on Sunday. (First place is worth 25 points.)

Hamilton was fastest in the morning with a best-lap time of 1 minute, 14.755 seconds. In the afternoon, his best lap came in at 1:14.212 — already better than the lap he posted to earn the pole a year ago.

“It’s been an awesome day,” Hamilton said. “This has always been a strong circuit for me and I’m really enjoying being back here again. ... I’m enjoying myself and hoping the weather stays like this over the weekend for all the fans out there in the grandstands.”

Not likely.

Rain is forecast for the weekend, so Saturday’s session could prove more useful to teams attempting to determine their set-ups for the race. In 2011, after a record delay of more than two hours, Jenson Button won after Sebastien Vettel skidded slightly in the rain on the final lap.

“The weather is really playing some games with us this weekend, and the various forecasts seem to be showing all eventualities apart from snow,” said Phil Charles, the chief race engineer for Toro Rosso. “We will therefore need to keep the weather factor in mind when it comes to making set-up decisions looking forward to Sunday.”

Second in the morning practice was Rosberg, who leads the standings 106-82, coming in 0.331 seconds slower than Hamilton. In the afternoon, Ferrari’s Vettel was second-fastest, 0.257 seconds behind Hamilton, with Rosberg third.

INDYCAR

Ganassi teammates seek victory

FORT WORTH, TEXAS

Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan had a 1-2 finish a year ago at the high-banked Texas oval, and Dixon went on to win his fourth IndyCar Series title.

The Chip Ganassi Racing teammates could sure use another front-running Texas two-step to start the second half of this season.

While Dixon is second in points, he is a long way from another series title. Kanaan is still looking for his first podium finish.

“Second in points sounds good, but not when (Simon) Pagenaud has an 80-point lead,” Dixon said Friday. “We’ve all got to keep our heads down and definitely make a race of the championship. By all means, it’s halfway, so there’s a lot of points left on the table.”

Ganassi’s top two drivers have only a pair of top-three finishes between them through eight of the 16 races this season. Dixon won at Phoenix in the second race of the season, and followed that at Long Beach as the runner-up in the first of three consecutive victories by Pagenaud, the Team Penske driver who has also finished second three times.

Kanaan finished fourth in the Indianapolis 500 to match his run at Phoenix, another oval.

“Obviously the Penske domination right now, it’s bothering us a little bit, but as far as championship points, I’m closer to the leader than I was last year at this point,” said Kanaan, who is eighth in points. “We still need to keep putting the pressure on for sure.”

Associated Press