Gavin Baker/Motorsport Images
Hamlin grabs fourth Pocono pole
Denny Hamlin will start from the pole at Pocono Raceway after topping the field in qualifying Saturday afternoon at 169.991mph (52.944s).
Hamlin was fastest in the final round of qualifying. It is his 36th career pole and third of the season. Sunday will be the fourth time Hamlin has led the field to the green flag at Pocono.
Hamlin’s teammate Kyle Busch qualified second. Busch’s fastest lap was 169.498mph.
Chase Elliott qualified third at 169.364mph and teammate Kyle Larson qualified fourth at 169.014mph. Chris Buescher rounded out the top five in at 168.922mph.
Ryan Blaney qualified sixth at 168.360mph, Bubba Wallace seventh at 1678.312mph, Martin Truex Jr. eighth at 167.976mph, Daniel Suarez ninth at 167.942mph, and Kurt Busch 10th.
Busch did not clock a lap. He made the final round of qualifying but crashed in Turn 3 on his lap. The rear of his Toyota hit the wall followed by the right front when the car spun back around. The former Pocono winner will go to a backup car for Sunday’s race and have to start at the rear of the field.
William Byron, who clocked in 18th, will also come from the rear of the field. Byron said his Hendrick Motorsports team will need to work on his car after he spun in practice.
Ross Chastain said his team will do the same after he also spun in Turn 3 in practice. He will give up his 21st starting position.
Further back, Kevin Harvick qualified 24th and Brad Keselowski was 26th fastest.
UP NEXT: M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 at 3 p.m. ET Sunday.
Kelly Crandall
Kelly has been on the NASCAR beat full-time since 2013, and joined RACER as chief NASCAR writer in 2017. Her work has also appeared in NASCAR.com, the NASCAR Illustrated magazine, and NBC Sports. A corporate communications graduate from Central Penn College, Crandall is a two-time George Cunningham Writer of the Year recipient from the National Motorsports Press Association.
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