Bristol NASCAR Sprint Cup: Denny Hamlin on pole for Joe Gibbs
Denny Hamlin will start Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway from pole, as Joe Gibbs Racing secured a second consecutive top three lockout in qualifying
Hamlin posted a record lap of 14.602 seconds in the final round of qualifying to secure his second pole of 2015 and his third at Bristol.
JGR team-mates Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards made it a clean sweep of the top three, the trio of drivers covered by just 0.084s. Busch had led the opening round of qualifying.
David Ragan was fourth for the troubled Michael Waltrip Racing, with Penske's Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski fifth and sixth fastest, and Kevin Harvick seventh.
Clint Bowyer will start ninth to give MWR two cars in the top 10, ahead of Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch - who interrupted the JGR run briefly to head the second round of qualifying for Stewart-Haas - and opening practice pacesetter Kyle Larson.
Michigan winner Matt Kenseth narrowly missed out on a spot in the final round to Ragan so became the only JGR driver left out of the top 12 shootout and starts 13th.
Ryan Newman was the best of the drivers provisionally in the Chase to drop out in round two, qualifying 18th, ahead of Kasey Kahne in 19th, Dale Earnhardt Jr 20th and Jamie McMurray 21st.
Martin Truex Jr was another to struggle in round two and will start from 23rd, with five-time Bristol winner Jeff Gordon 24th.
Aric Almirola slumped to 31st position after a practice crash, while three-time Cup champion Tony Stewart was just 40th in his Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet.
QUALIFYING RESULTS:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 14.602s | - |
| 2 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 14.618s | 0.016s |
| 3 | Carl Edwards | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 14.686s | 0.084s |
| 4 | David Ragan | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 14.708s | 0.106s |
| 5 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 14.721s | 0.119s |
| 6 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford | 14.723s | 0.121s |
| 7 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 14.726s | 0.124s |
| 8 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 14.746s | 0.144s |
| 9 | Clint Bowyer | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 14.754s | 0.152s |
| 10 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 14.766s | 0.164s |
| 11 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 14.823s | 0.221s |
| 12 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 14.892s | 0.290s |
| 13 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 14.797s | - |
| 14 | Justin Allgaier | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 14.834s | - |
| 15 | Ryan Blaney | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 14.850s | - |
| 16 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 14.857s | - |
| 17 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 14.895s | - |
| 18 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 14.909s | - |
| 19 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 14.920s | - |
| 20 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 14.928s | - |
| 21 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 14.960s | - |
| 22 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 14.968s | - |
| 23 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Chevrolet | 14.972s | - |
| 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 14.992s | - |
| 25 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 14.925s | - |
| 26 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 14.961s | - |
| 27 | Brett Moffitt | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 14.970s | - |
| 28 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 15.000s | - |
| 29 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 15.014s | - |
| 30 | Michael McDowell | Leavine Family Racing | Ford | 15.037s | - |
| 31 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 15.042s | - |
| 32 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 15.045s | - |
| 33 | Cole Whitt | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 15.054s | - |
| 34 | Josh Wise | Go FAS Racing | Ford | 15.065s | - |
| 35 | Michael Annett | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet | 15.080s | - |
| 36 | Alex Bowman | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 15.084s | - |
| 37 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 15.113s | - |
| 38 | J.J. Yeley | BK Racing | Toyota | 15.130s | - |
| 39 | Landon Cassill | Hillman Smith Motorsports | Chevrolet | 15.151s | - |
| 40 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 15.161s | - |
| 41 | Timmy Hill | Phil Parsons Racing | Chevrolet | 15.221s | - |
| 42 | Matt DiBenedetto | BK Racing | Toyota | 15.278s | - |
| 43 | Mike Bliss | Circle Sport | Chevrolet | 15.293s | - |
| 44 | Travis Kvapil | The Motorsports Group | Chevrolet | 15.163s | - |
| 45 | Jeb Burton | BK Racing | Toyota | 15.240s | - |
| 46 | Reed Sorenson | Premium Motorsports | Ford | 15.332s | - |
44-46 are non-qualifiers
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