NASCAR Charlotte: Denny Hamlin denies Kurt Busch pole
Denny Hamlin took his first NASCAR Sprint Cup pole since his return from injury as he topped qualifying for Sunday's 600-mile race at Charlotte
Going into the latter stages of Thursday evening's session, Kurt Busch appeared to have taken the second pole of the season for himself and the Furniture Row team, with no one able to challenge his 27.661-second lap.
But Hamlin was able to rustle up a 27.604s effort in his Joe Gibbs Toyota to deny Busch the top spot.
Busch held on to the outside front row position, as Matt Kenseth underlined Gibbs' pace by securing third.
Mark Martin was on the provisional front row for a spell before falling back to fourth, just ahead of Michael Waltrip Racing team-mate Clint Bowyer.
Last year's winner Kasey Kahne was sixth fastest in the best of the Hendrick entries.
Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray and Ryan Newman completed the top 10, with everyone back to Busch below the previous track record.
Championship leader Jimmie Johnson and nearest points rival Carl Edwards will start 12th and 13th. Reigning champion Brad Keselowski was 20th.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap
1. Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Toyota 27.604s
2. Kurt Busch Furniture Row Chevrolet 27.661s + 0.057s
3. Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Toyota 27.679s + 0.075s
4. Mark Martin Waltrip Toyota 27.750s + 0.146s
5. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota 27.763s + 0.159s
6. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Chevrolet 27.785s + 0.181s
7. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford 27.801s + 0.197s
8. Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Toyota 27.842s + 0.238s
9. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 27.879s + 0.275s
10. Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 27.887s + 0.283s
11. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet 27.915s + 0.311s
12. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet 27.937s + 0.333s
13. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford 27.940s + 0.336s
14. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet 27.985s + 0.381s
15. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet 28.049s + 0.445s
16. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 28.083s + 0.479s
17. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota 28.097s + 0.493s
18. Aric Almirola Petty Ford 28.106s + 0.502s
19. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford 28.107s + 0.503s
20. Brad Keselowski Penske Ford 28.142s + 0.538s
21. Casey Mears Germain Ford 28.142s + 0.538s
22. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet 28.165s + 0.561s
23. JJ Yeley Baldwin Chevrolet 28.274s + 0.670s
24. Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 28.298s + 0.694s
25. Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 28.303s + 0.699s
26. David Gilliland Front Row Ford 28.322s + 0.718s
27. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet 28.348s + 0.744s
28. Travis Kvapil BK Toyota 28.359s + 0.755s
29. Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Ford 28.360s + 0.756s
30. Ricky Stenhouse Jr Roush Fenway Ford 28.385s + 0.781s
31. Joey Logano Penske Ford 28.414s + 0.810s
32. Michael McDowell Parsons Ford 28.426s + 0.822s
33. Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet 28.452s + 0.848s
34. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota 28.511s + 0.907s
35. David Ragan Front Row Ford 28.564s + 0.960s
36. Regan Smith Phoenix Chevrolet 28.613s + 1.009s
37. David Reutimann BK Toyota 28.665s + 1.061s
38. David Stremme Swan Toyota 28.683s + 1.079s
39. Timmy Hill FAS Lane Ford 28.706s + 1.102s
40. Joe Nemechek NEMCO Toyota 28.711s + 1.107s
41. Landon Cassill Circle Sport Chevrolet 28.712s + 1.108s
42. Josh Wise Front Row Ford 28.969s + 1.365s
43. Scott Speed Leavine Ford 28.623s + 1.019s
Did not qualify:
Mike Bliss Humphrey Smith Toyota 28.690s + 1.086s
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
NASCAR Cup Bristol: Hamlin wins wild race dominated by tyre wear
Hamlin holds off Busch to win NASCAR's LA Clash
NASCAR Full Speed review: Will the Netflix docuseries elevate the championship?
WRC Croatia: Neuville, Evans tied for the lead after eight stages
WIN! A VIP Race Weekend Experience in Monaco
Lauda's 1976 German GP helmet to be auctioned at F1 Miami GP
Ocon wants set-up changes after China F1 sprint as "performance left on the side"
The ex-F1 driver taking on NASCAR with a new team
The early benefits and challenges of NASCAR's Next Gen car
How Penske's rookie sensation opened NASCAR's new era in style
Six key themes to follow in the 2022 NASCAR Cup season
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