Pocono NASCAR: Denny Hamlin on top in qualifying shootout
Denny Hamlin stole pole position late in NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying at Pocono Raceway
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver set a late benchmark in the five-minute pole shootout to deny Stewart-Haas' Kurt Busch and take his second pole position of the year, after Bristol in March.
With Pocono 2.5 miles long and just five minutes in the final part of the knockout session, drivers only had time for one lap in their fight for pole.
Busch had set the track record in the second segment of qualifying, but had to settle for second on the grid behind the blistering lap set by Hamlin.
Penske's Brad Keselowski starts from third after a solid qualifying session, followed by four time Pocono 400 winner Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The winner of the last two Cup races, Jimmie Johnson, could only manage 20th and missed out on the final 12 shootout after making a mistake at Turn 2.
Other notable absentees from the fight for pole were Matt Kenseth in 26th, as his 2014 qualifying woes continued, along with Hendrick Motorsports' Kasey Kahne, who landed just behind Kenseth in 27th.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Toyota 49.610s 2. Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 49.612s +0.002s 3. Brad Keselowski Penske Ford 49.637s +0.027s 4. Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 49.770s +0.160s 5. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet 49.858s +0.248s 6. Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Toyota 49.873s +0.263s 7. Joey Logano Penske Ford 50.048s +0.438s 8. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet 50.121s +0.511s 9. Brian Vickers Waltrip Toyota 50.126s +0.516s 10. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford 50.172s +0.562s 11. Austin Dillon Childress Chevrolet 50.188s +0.578s 12. Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 50.244s +0.634s 13. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford 50.207s Q2 14. Kyle Larson Ganassi Chevrolet 50.215s Q2 15. Ryan Newman Childress Chevrolet 50.259s Q2 16. Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 50.265s Q2 17. Martin Truex Jr Furniture Row Chevrolet 50.286s Q2 18. Jamie McMurray Ganassi Chevrolet 50.302s Q2 19. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota 50.342s Q2 20. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet 50.370s Q2 21. AJ Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Chevrolet 50.480s Q2 22. Aric Almirola Petty Ford 50.521s Q2 23. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet 50.553s Q2 24. Justin Allgaier HScott Chevrolet 50.765s Q2 25. Casey Mears Germain Chevrolet 50.549s Q1 26. Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Toyota 50.571s Q1 27. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Chevrolet 50.588s Q1 28. Ricky Stenhouse Jr Roush Fenway Ford 50.610s Q1 29. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford 50.801s Q1 30. Michael Annett Baldwin Chevrolet 51.047s Q1 31. Landon Cassill Hillman Chevrolet 51.129s Q1 32. David Ragan Front Row Ford 51.159s Q1 33. Travis Kvapil FAS Lane Ford 51.175s Q1 34. Alex Bowman BK Toyota 51.231s Q1 35. David Gilliland Front Row Ford 51.249s Q1 36. Reed Sorenson Baldwin Chevrolet 51.441s Q1 37. Josh Wise Parsons Ford 51.503s Q1 38. JJ Yeley Xxxtreme Chevrolet 51.733s Q1 39. Timmy Hill Robinson Toyota 51.945s Q1 40. Cole Whitt BK Toyota 52.081s Q1 41. Ryan Truex BK Toyota 52.188s Q1 42. Alex Kennedy Circle Sport Chevrolet 53.037s Q1 43. Dave Blaney Humphrey Ford Q1
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
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