Hamlin on Richmond Cup pole
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
Share Or Save This Story
Montoya's memories of a lost rival and rising star
Montoya: Vettel F1 2019 issues more likely technical than mentality
Leclerc reminds ex-Ferrari president di Montezemolo of young Lauda
Payback, fistfights and wall-rides: NASCAR's most shocking playoff moments
NASCAR hands Hamlin points penalties for engine violation
Bubba Wallace: Richmond NASCAR chaos is "the system’s fault"
How Armstrong has proven he belongs in the WRC's top tier
The top 11 lost F1 victories after the flag
Racing Bulls suggest "continuous" roll-out of F1 2026 regulation tweaks
Special Alpine and victorious Vectra among Cadwell Park BARC highlights
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments