Hamlin takes Martinsville pole
Denny Hamlin will start from pole position in Sunday's Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway, the shortest and slowest track of the Nextel Cup season and also the second Car of Tomorrow event of the year
Hamlin set a fastest lap of 19.911 seconds with an average speed of 95.103 mph around the half-mile oval to claim his fifth Nextel Cup career pole at what he considers to be one of his home tracks.
"We had a car that was capable of winning the pole at Bristol and we let it get away," he said.
"To come back to my home state and win the pole, definitely means a lot.
"I didn't think [my lap] would hold up for a pole run. We worked mostly in race trim in practice, so to come here and run a good qualifying lap, we're pretty happy with it."
Hamlin reminded his rivals to be aware of the Joe Gibbs Racing cars, which between them led nearly 90 percent of last weekend's Bristol race, the first ever Car of Tomorrow event.
J.J. Yeley and Tony Stewart confirmed the team's strong COT form by taking fifth and seventh on the starting grid for Sunday's 500 lap race.
A surprising second in qualifying was Roush Racing's Jamie McMurray, who also ran strongly last weekend at Bristol for most of the distance. The fastest of his two qualifying laps was a 19.942 second effort with an average speed of 94.955 mph.
Points-leader Jeff Gordon enjoyed a good qualifying again after claiming pole at Bristol last week. He was one of only three drivers to lap below the 20-second mark despite being first on the track to make his run.
"I felt like we could have even went a little further; we were a little bit too tight even in qualifying," said Gordon, who has won at Martinsville seven times.
"You know, going out first, I don't know how much that really hurt us because we still ended up decent. Psychologically, going out first isn't the best thing,"
Veteran Ken Schrader, in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford, provided another surprise - emerging in fourth. He was the fastest among the 14 drivers who needed to make the field based on their qualifying speed.
Jeremy Mayfield, who qualified for his second race of the season, was the best placed Toyota in 13th just behind Kurt Busch in the fastest Dodge. Bill Davis Racing teammate Dave Blaney, who needed to qualify on time for the first time this year, will start from 22nd.
A.J. Allmendinger also made the field again qualifying 40th, although Red Bull teammate Brian Vickers failed to make the cut, while still recovering from gas inhalation and blisters on his feet caused by a broken exhaust at Bristol last week.
Michael Waltrip was the only driver from his team not to qualify as both Dale Jarrett and David Reutimann were quick enough to get a place on the grid for Sunday's race.
Juan Pablo Montoya had a decent run on his first visit to Martinsville, qualifying 23rd, fastest among the rookies and best placed of the Ganassi cars.
"I think we did a clean, decent job, improved from practice, which was my whole goal, just a little bit better. I like this place," Montoya said.
Qualifying times:
Pos Driver Make Speed Time
1. Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 95.103 19.911
2. Jamie McMurray Ford 94.955 19.942 + 0.031
3. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 94.851 19.964 + 0.053
4. Ken Schrader Ford 94.623 20.012 + 0.101
5. J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 94.562 20.025 + 0.114
6. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 94.548 20.028 + 0.117
7. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 94.515 20.035 + 0.124
8. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 94.482 20.042 + 0.131
9. Carl Edwards Ford 94.406 20.058 + 0.147
10. Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 94.378 20.064 + 0.153
11. Tony Raines Chevrolet 94.336 20.073 + 0.162
12. Kurt Busch Dodge 94.317 20.077 + 0.166
13. Jeremy Mayfield Toyota 94.223 20.097 + 0.186
14. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 94.190 20.104 + 0.193
15. Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet 94.176 20.107 + 0.196
16. David Gilliland Ford 94.064 20.131 + 0.220
17. Ricky Rudd Ford 94.031 20.138 + 0.227
18. Elliott Sadler Dodge 94.026 20.139 + 0.228
19. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 93.998 20.145 + 0.234
20. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 93.956 20.154 + 0.243
21. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 93.956 20.154 + 0.243
22. Dave Blaney Toyota 93.887 20.169 + 0.258
23. Juan Montoya Dodge 93.859 20.175 + 0.264
24. Ryan Newman Dodge 93.826 20.182 + 0.271
25. Robby Gordon Ford 93.784 20.191 + 0.280
26. Scott Riggs Dodge 93.780 20.192 + 0.281
27. David Ragan Ford 93.752 20.198 + 0.287
28. Reed Sorenson Dodge 93.645 20.221 + 0.310
29. David Stremme Dodge 93.604 20.230 + 0.319
30. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 93.571 20.237 + 0.326
31. Bobby Labonte Dodge 93.543 20.243 + 0.332
32. Jeff Green Chevrolet 93.497 20.253 + 0.342
33. Matt Kenseth Ford 93.483 20.256 + 0.345
34. Greg Biffle Ford 93.419 20.270 + 0.359
35. Casey Mears Chevrolet 93.414 20.271 + 0.360
36. Regan Smith Chevrolet 93.345 20.286 + 0.375
37. Sterling Marlin Chevrolet 93.267 20.303 + 0.392
38. Dale Jarrett Toyota 93.235 20.310 + 0.399
39. Mike Bliss Dodge 93.221 20.313 + 0.402
40. A.J. Allmendinger Toyota 93.184 20.321 + 0.410
41. Kasey Kahne Dodge 93.043 20.352 + 0.441
42. David Reutimann Toyota 92.979 20.366 + 0.455
43. Kyle Petty Dodge 92.974 20.367 + 0.456
44. Michael Waltrip Toyota 92.801 20.405 + 0.494
45. Paul Menard Chevrolet 92.674 20.433 + 0.522
46. Kenny Wallace Chevrolet 92.493 20.473 + 0.562
47. Kevin Lepage Dodge 92.470 20.478 + 0.567
48. Brian Vickers Toyota 92.321 20.511 + 0.600
49. Ward Burton Chevrolet 91.855 20.615 + 0.704
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