Hamlin claims Martinsville pole

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver set a time of 19.518 seconds on his second flying lap, beating the previous benchmark set by Australian Marcos Ambrose, who will join him on the front row of the grid.

Hamlin won at Martinsville a year ago and then went on to claim victory in a rain-delayed event last March, a few days before surgery for a torn ligament in his left knee.

This weekend he arrives at the sixth race of the championship play-off in second place, only 41 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson, a margin that he hopes to reduce on Sunday at what is arguably the best track for both him and the reigning champion.

"We spent all day working on qualifying trying to get the pole - trying to get that first pit stall because obviously we do feel like it's very important," said Hamlin. "I think if I'm ahead of the 48 then I could possibly set the tone in whether he leads a lap or not. That's a 10-point swing. That's a little bit of it.

"It all starts today and that's where our strategy's at. Other than that, I plan on trying to go out there and lead the most laps and win the race - just like everyone else is."

Ambrose claimed his best qualifying result of the season thus far, making an all-Toyota front row for Sunday. Roush Fenway's Greg Biffle was third and best of the Fords, while Ryan Newman headed the Chevrolets after his Stewart Haas team-mate Tony Stewart led practice earlier in the day.

Stewart will start from the third row of the grid alongside Earnhardt Ganassi's Juan Pablo Montoya, while Biffle's team-mate Carl Edwards was the only other Chase driver in the top-ten.

Seven-time Martinsville winner Jeff Gordon will line up eleventh on the grid, while his Hendrick Motorsports team-mate Johnson had his worst qualifying for the past three years at Martinsville, ending in 19th place in the starting order.

Germain Racing's Casey Mears was the fastest of the non-guaranteed drivers in 20th, while Michael McDowell, Robby Gordon, Terry Cook and Johnny Sauter failed to make the field.

Pos  Driver              Car        Speed    Time     Gap
 1.  Denny Hamlin        Toyota     97.018   19.518
 2.  Marcos Ambrose      Toyota     97.003   19.521   + 0.003s
 3.  Greg Biffle         Ford       96.988   19.524   + 0.006s
 4.  Ryan Newman         Chevrolet  96.973   19.527   + 0.009s
 5.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Chevrolet  96.959   19.530   + 0.012s
 6.  Tony Stewart        Chevrolet  96.889   19.544   + 0.026s
 7.  Carl Edwards        Ford       96.835   19.555   + 0.037s
 8.  David Reutimann     Toyota     96.825   19.557   + 0.039s
 9.  Jamie McMurray      Chevrolet  96.696   19.583   + 0.065s
10.  David Ragan         Ford       96.686   19.585   + 0.067s
11.  Jeff Gordon         Chevrolet  96.666   19.589   + 0.071s
12.  Paul Menard         Ford       96.657   19.591   + 0.073s
13.  Regan Smith         Chevrolet  96.622   19.598   + 0.080s
14.  Scott Speed         Toyota     96.607   19.601   + 0.083s
15.  AJ Allmendinger     Ford       96.583   19.606   + 0.088s
16.  Martin Truex Jr     Toyota     96.479   19.627   + 0.109s
17.  Clint Bowyer        Chevrolet  96.460   19.631   + 0.113s
18.  Jeff Burton         Chevrolet  96.366   19.650   + 0.132s
19.  Jimmie Johnson      Chevrolet  96.352   19.653   + 0.135s
20.  Casey Mears         Toyota     96.342   19.655   + 0.137s
21.  Mark Martin         Chevrolet  96.244   19.675   + 0.157s
22.  Joey Logano         Toyota     96.229   19.678   + 0.160s
23.  Bobby Labonte       Chevrolet  96.190   19.686   + 0.168s
24.  Sam Hornish Jr      Dodge      96.166   19.691   + 0.173s
25.  Brad Keselowski     Dodge      96.136   19.697   + 0.179s
26.  Kyle Busch          Toyota     96.132   19.698   + 0.180s
27.  Travis Kvapil       Ford       96.107   19.703   + 0.185s
28.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Chevrolet  96.024   19.720   + 0.202s
29.  Landon Cassill      Toyota     95.888   19.748   + 0.230s
30.  Kurt Busch          Dodge      95.888   19.748   + 0.230s
31.  Elliott Sadler      Ford       95.859   19.754   + 0.236s
32.  Matt Kenseth        Ford       95.767   19.773   + 0.255s
33.  Kasey Kahne         Toyota     95.685   19.790   + 0.272s
34.  Dave Blaney         Chevrolet  95.675   19.792   + 0.274s
35.  Aric Almirola       Ford       95.641   19.799   + 0.281s
36.  Kevin Harvick       Chevrolet  95.521   19.824   + 0.306s
37.  Joe Nemechek        Toyota     95.208   19.889   + 0.371s
38.  Ken Schrader        Ford       95.098   19.912   + 0.394s
39.  JJ Yeley            Dodge      94.855   19.963   + 0.445s
40.  David Gilliland     Ford       94.780   19.979   + 0.461s
41.  Robby Gordon        Toyota     94.340   20.072   + 0.554s
42.  Terry Cook          Toyota     94.125   20.118   + 0.600s
43.  Tony Raines         Ford       94.092   20.125   + 0.607s
44.  Kevin Conway        Toyota     93.868   20.173   + 0.655s
45.  Hermie Sadler       Chevrolet  93.770   20.194   + 0.676s
46.  Johnny Sauter       Toyota       -        -         -
47.  Michael McDowell    Chevrolet    -        -         -