Stewart loses pole for Pocono 500

LONG POND, Pa. - Jack Roush joked Friday that Pocono Raceway - in the heart of a resort area that once was a traditional destination for newlyweds - would be a fitting place for Tony Stewart's "honeymoon" as a first-year driver/owner to end.

Stewart chuckled at the rival owner's jab but admitted: "He's right - it's been a honeymoon to this point [because] we haven't had to go through the lows yet. We will get a dose of reality at some point. Every race team does."

Less than 24 hours later, Roush's prediction sounded eerily prescient.

Stewart spun through the grass coming out of the second turn early in yesterday morning's practice session, tearing up the front end of the No. 14 Chevrolet.

At the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, Stewart was awarded the pole position for today's Pocono 500 when qualifying was rained out Friday. But because he will be forced to use a backup car, Stewart must start from the back of the 43-car field.

"This car will be good," Stewart said of his spare Chevrolet, though he lamented the loss of significant practice time on the racetrack.

Jimmy Johnson will move to the pole position.

Dynamic debut. Joey Logano was all smiles after his first taste of competition on the tricky triangular speedway resulted in a dominating victory in yesterday's Pocono 200.

Piloting the Venturini Motorsports-prepared No. 25 Toyota, Logano started fourth and went on to lead 52 of the 80 laps, beating ARCA RE/MAX Series leader Justin Lofton to the finish line by 1.995 seconds. In four career starts in the stock-car developmental series, Logano has two wins and a pair of runner-up finishes.

Among yesterday's local entries, Kevin Belmont of Langhorne was 21st, while Cherry Hill native Tom Hessert III finished 28th.