Denny Hamlin poses in victory lane after qualifying for the pole position for Sunday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
Denny Hamlin is out to prove he’s not giving up on making the Chase for the Sprint Cup, looking to score some victories to qualify for a wild card spot in the 12-driver Chase field.
Hamlin took a big step toward his goal by winning the pole for Sunday’s Coca Cola 600 during Thursday night’s qualifying session at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Hamlin was one of nine drivers to shatter the track record, posting a jaw dropping top speed of 195.624 mph in the No. 11 Toyota Camry – nearly two mph over the previous track record of 193.708 mph set by Greg Biffle last October –to knock Kurt Busch off the top for his 14th-career Coors Light Pole Award.
“We just ran real fast,” said Hamlin. “We knew we had to improve from last week. We didn’t improve the way we wanted. All these guys here sucked up and made a helluva run.
“I knew I had to try and do everything I could, but the way our car drove I didn’t think it was that fast when I was actually making the lap. I just sat in turn one with 10 cars to go and just kind of closed my eyes and listened to each car go by and listened to what they were doing with their throttle and look at the board and see where they ended up. I took all that information and kind of put together what I thought it was going to take to run the fastest lap. We put it all together and it’s hard work and it pays off — all that’s good.”
Kurt Busch held the second position with a speed of 195.221 mph, followed by Matt Kenseth (195.094), Mark Martin (194.595) and Clint Bowyer (194.503).
Hamlin’s pole was his first since topping qualifying for at Auto Club Speedway in March, a race that ended in a last-lap crash which resulted in a back injury that kept Hamlin out for four races and knocked him as far back as 31st in points.
Although Hamlin has little chance of making the top 10 in points to automatically qualify for the Chase, he still has an outside shot of capturing a wild card spot, which goes to two non top-10 drivers in the top 20 in points with the most wins.
“I think ultimately getting the big trophy on Sunday is the validation that you’re truly back,” said Hamlin. “For me, it’s going to take some wins and some really good consistency throughout these summer months to put ourselves in position to have a chance at a championship. That’s what we’re here for.
“Even these small victories though give me that confidence that I’m still capable, and I’m still able to do the job at 100 percent like I should be. Any kind of confidence booster for me — it’s always a plus on Sunday.”
Kurt Busch’s outside-pole winning effort was his second-straight front-row starting spot, looking to turn things around for his team which has had only four top-10 starts this season.
“It was an extremely fast car,” said Busch. “Those guys keep delivering pole-winning-type cars each and every week when we’ve been unloading. I just didn’t quite hit my mark exactly right in (turns) 3 & 4, and I knew that we might get beat by somebody. I was just hoping we might get a gift. But Denny Hamlin laid it down.
“I’m just leaning on the team. And they keep building better and better cars. To have that confidence in them, just like we unloaded today and ran a ridiculous lap time, we ran a 28.20 and the other guys are running 28.50’s. When you have that confidence to lay the right pedal down and it sticks, it’s a great feeling.”
Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray and Ryan Newman rounded out the top ten qualifiers. Mike Bliss was the only driver to fail to qualify for Sunday’s race.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Charlotte Motor Speedway – Concord, NC
Coca-Cola 600 Qualfying – May 23, 2013
1. 11 Denny Hamlin 27.604 195.624
2. 78 Kurt Busch 27.661 195.221
3. 20 Matt Kenseth 27.679 195.094
4. 55 Mark Martin 27.750 194.595
5. 15 Clint Bowyer 27.763 194.503
6. 5 Kasey Kahne 27.785 194.349
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8. 18 Kyle Busch 27.842 193.952
9. 1 Jamie McMurray 27.879 193.694
10. 39 Ryan Newman 27.887 193.639
11. 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 27.915 193.444
12. 48 Jimmie Johnson 27.937 193.292
13. 99 Carl Edwards 27.940 193.271
14. 24 Jeff Gordon 27.985 192.961
15. 29 Kevin Harvick 28.049 192.520
16. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya 28.083 192.287
17. 56 Martin Truex Jr. 28.097 192.191
18. 43 Aric Almirola 28.106 192.130
19. 9 Marcos Ambrose 28.107 192.123
20. 2 Brad Keselowski 28.142 191.884
21. 13 Casey Mears 28.142 191.884
22. 27 Paul Menard 28.165 191.727
23. 36 JJ Yeley 28.274 190.988
24. 10 Danica Patrick 28.298 190.826
25. 14 Tony Stewart 28.303 190.792
26. 38 David Gilliland 28.322 190.665
27. 31 Jeff Burton 28.348 190.490
28. 93 Travis Kvapil 28.359 190.416
29. 21 Trevor Bayne 28.360 190.409
30. 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 28.385 190.241
31. 22 Joey Logano 28.414 190.047
32. 98 Michael McDowell 28.426 189.967
33. 7 Dave Blaney 28.452 189.793
34. 47 Bobby Labonte 28.511 189.401
35. 34 David Ragan 28.564 189.049
36. 51 Regan Smith 28.613 188.725
37. 95 Scott Speed Owner Points
38. 83 David Reutimann Owner Points
39. 30 David Stremme Owner Points
40. 32 Timmy Hill Owner Points
41. 87 Joe Nemechek Owner Points
42. 33 Landon Cassill Owner Points
43. 35 Josh Wise Owner Points
Did Not Qualify: Mike Bliss
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