DARLINGTON, S.C. – Denny Hamlin has made his statement to the rest of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series field: the road to victory at Darlington Raceway goes through his No. 11 FedEx Toyota.
Hamlin kicked off his quest for a second-straight Southern 500 victory by earning the Busch Pole Award during knockout qualifying on Saturday, turning a lap of 28.332 seconds (173.571 mph) with a paint scheme honoring the very first race car Hamlin drove at the start of his short-track career.
The effort marked Hamlin’s 29th career Cup Series pole and third in the last four races, but Saturday was the first time in his career that he’s topped qualifying in the Cup Series at Darlington.
“To win a pole here is really special. … The No. 1 pit stall is obviously very important here, so I’m excited about that, but the team has done a great job with the car all weekend,” said Hamlin. “I’m really optimistic and hopeful that we can have a good smooth race on Sunday. The goal is to keep building some momentum here over the last few weeks leading into the playoffs, but we definitely want to get that win and get that off our backs too.”
Hamlin will be joined on the front row by Kyle Larson, who took the No. 42 DC Solar Chevrolet to the second-fastest lap (28.358/173.411) in the final round. Larson led the first knockout round and was second in round two as well.
“My car was pretty good there every round,” noted Larson. “The first round I was a little bit on the free side and ran a really good lap. The second round, I felt like my balance was pretty good and fell off a few tenths, but was still good. And then (in) the third round there, I was just a little too loose to carry the speed I needed to get the pole.
“I would have liked to have gotten the pole, but hopefully we can keep our car up front tomorrow and get a good finish for our team and DC Solar.”
Martin Truex Jr. was third for Furniture Row Racing, followed by Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman and Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch.
Ryan Newman, Erik Jones, Joey Logano, Kurt Busch, rookie William Byron, Chase Elliott and Aric Almirola completed the top dozen and all advanced through each of the three knockout rounds.
Brad Keselowski was the first driver who failed to advance to the final round of qualifying, landing 13th-quick (28.460/172.790) in the No. 2 Miller Genuine Draft Ford which pays tribute to NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace.
Other notables who will be mired in the middle of the pack to start Sunday night’s race include Paul Menard (14th), 2013 Southern 500 winner Matt Kenseth (15th), Austin Dillon (18th), seven-time champion and two-time Southern 500 winner Jimmie Johnson (20th) and Kevin Harvick (22nd).
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. landed just below the cut line at the end of the opening round of qualifying and will start 25th (28.439/172.917) in the No. 17 John Deere Ford that honors former RFR driver Chad Little’s 1997 paint scheme.
Additional drivers eliminated in round one included Michael McDowell (26th), Darrell Wallace Jr. (27th), Kasey Kahne (29th) and Jamie McMurray (31st), who battled engine woes during practice on Friday.
The 69th annual Bojangles’ Southern 500 is scheduled to take the green flag at 6 p.m. Sunday night.
To view the complete starting lineup, advance to the next page.
