Hamlin on Richmond Cup pole
| By Diego Mejia |
Saturday, May 3rd 2008, 02:33 GMT |
 Denny Hamlin scored his first pole position of the season in qualifying for his home race, the Crown Royal Presents The Dan Lowry 400 at Richmond International Raceway.
The Virginia native set a fastest lap of 21.395 seconds at an average speed of 126.198 miles per hour, beating veteran Mark Martin by nearly three hundredths of a second to score his sixth Cup career pole position, his second at the 0.75-mile oval.
"A pole at Richmond equals a race win anywhere else I go," Hamlin said. "It's a great accomplishment for our race team and it's the next closest thing to a win here. We just have to finish the deal off on Saturday night."
"What's good about it is that we are able to perform under pressure. I knew I had pressure because my heart was beating out of my chest during my lap. When your foot is sitting there shaking on the gas pedal, the nerves are starting to get to you."
Martin Truex Jr took third ahead of Canadian Patrick Carpentier, who had his best Cup qualifying result thus far. He was the fastest Dodge runner and also the quickest of the drivers who needed to make the field on time.
"The car was really hooked up," said Carpentier. "I was really happy about it. At Phoenix, I was really pushing hard and missed a couple of corners and didn't end up as well. I never expected that we were going to end up fourth today.
"For the first time, I won't see the leaders coming by me so quickly. It's tough being with these guys up there. Hopefully we'll be able to stay there (near the front) for a while during the race and enjoy it a little bit."
Reed Sorenson matched his best qualifying result of the season taking fifth and narrowly beating his teammate Juan Pablo Montoya who ranked sixth to make an all-Ganassi third row of the grid.
"I messed up on the second lap otherwise we maybe had a shot at the pole," Montoya said. "I'm happy. I'm actually surprised that our run wasn't a little quicker. We're good. I think we'll be OK.
"If we can get the car to work better on exit, we'll be able to run the bottom groove and keep the car down on the race track. It's a long race. The track will change all night. You just have to find the line that works best for your car."
Talladega winner Kyle Busch took seventh on the grid, while points leader Jeff Burton will start down in 33rd.
Last year's winner Jimmie Johnson was twelfth, fastest among the Hendrick drivers. His teammate, three-time Richmond winner Dale Earnhardt Jr will start from 22nd on the grid.
Although Sorenson and Montoya gave some good news to Chip Ganassi, the bad news is that the team's third car driven by Ken Schrader, substituting for the injured Dario Franchitti, didn't make the field. Scott Wimmer, John Andretti and Jon Wood also failed to make the field for Saturday's race. Pos Driver Make Speed Time
1. Denny Hamlin Toyota 126.198 21.395
2. Mark Martin Chevrolet 126.033 21.423 + 0.028
3. Martin Truex Jr Chevrolet 125.839 21.456 + 0.061
4. Patrick Carpentier Dodge 125.827 21.458 + 0.063
5. Reed Sorenson Dodge 125.722 21.476 + 0.081
6. Juan Montoya Dodge 125.587 21.499 + 0.104
7. Kyle Busch Toyota 125.494 21.515 + 0.120
8. Elliott Sadler Dodge 125.488 21.516 + 0.121
9. Kasey Kahne Dodge 125.441 21.524 + 0.129
10. Ryan Newman Dodge 125.348 21.540 + 0.145
11. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 125.238 21.559 + 0.164
12. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 125.191 21.567 + 0.172
13. David Ragan Ford 125.168 21.571 + 0.176
14. David Reutimann Toyota 125.133 21.577 + 0.182
15. Tony Stewart Toyota 125.127 21.578 + 0.183
16. Casey Mears Chevrolet 125.110 21.581 + 0.186
17. Dave Blaney Toyota 125.058 21.590 + 0.195
18. A.J. Allmendinger Toyota 125.040 21.593 + 0.198
19. Carl Edwards Ford 124.988 21.602 + 0.207
20. Jamie McMurray Ford 124.936 21.611 + 0.216
21. Kurt Busch Dodge 124.890 21.619 + 0.224
22. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet 124.792 21.636 + 0.241
23. Greg Biffle Ford 124.734 21.646 + 0.251
24. Matt Kenseth Ford 124.671 21.657 + 0.262
25. Paul Menard Chevrolet 124.631 21.664 + 0.269
26. Regan Smith Chevrolet 124.602 21.669 + 0.274
27. Michael Waltrip Toyota 124.573 21.674 + 0.279
28. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 124.470 21.692 + 0.297
29. Michael McDowell Toyota 124.435 21.698 + 0.303
30. Scott Riggs Chevrolet 124.327 21.717 + 0.322
31. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 124.321 21.718 + 0.323
32. Brian Vickers Toyota 124.258 21.729 + 0.334
33. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 124.241 21.732 + 0.337
34. Travis Kvapil Ford 124.229 21.734 + 0.339
35. Sam Hornish Jr Dodge 124.138 21.750 + 0.355
36. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 124.012 21.772 + 0.377
37. Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 124.001 21.774 + 0.379
38. Robby Gordon Dodge 123.882 21.795 + 0.400
39. Bobby Labonte Dodge 123.876 21.796 + 0.401
40. David Gilliland Ford 123.785 21.812 + 0.417
41. Sterling Marlin Chevrolet 123.598 21.845 + 0.450
42. Kyle Petty Dodge 123.592 21.846 + 0.451
43. J.J. Yeley Toyota 123.446 21.872 + 0.477
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