Hamlin Gets An Unexpected Boost With Phoenix Pole

Denny Hamlin scored the pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway. Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

AVONDALE, AZ — Needing an 11th-place finish or better in Sunday’s Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 to secure one of four positions in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ title race, Denny Hamlin took a giant step toward that goal with a pole-winning effort on Friday at Phoenix International Raceway.

Hamlin covered the one-mile distance in 25.332 seconds (142.113 mph) to win his third Coors Light pole award of the season, his second at Phoenix and the 20th of his career. The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota edged fellow Chase driver Brad Keselowski (142.079 mph) by .006 seconds for the top starting spot in the final race of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup’s Eliminator Round.

With Kevin Harvick third at 141.995 mph, Joey Logano fourth and Matt Kenseth fifth (both at 141.794 mph) and Jeff Gordon sixth at 141.665 mph, Chase drivers claimed six of the top seven spots on the grid. The only interloper was Kyle Busch, who will start sixth after posting a lap at 141.771 mph.

With one of the best pit crews in the Sprint Cup garage, Hamlin will choose pit stall No. 1, closest to the exit from pit road and a considerable advantage at Phoenix. But even with the top starting spot and the best pit box, Hamlin doesn’t think he’ll be able to coast to the final race.

“I think the competition is just too close and tight to think that you’re just going to coast to an 11th-place finish,” Hamlin said. “Nowadays, the difference between 11th and third and 20th is not that much, so you’ve got to go all-out on every single lap and fight for every position on restarts.

“So, really, from my standpoint, there is no backing into this thing and coasting our way to Homestead. We have to go out there and perform at a high level, or else we’re not going to make it. There are too many cars that are too good for us to think that we’re just going to ride around and take our spot.”

Harvick, who was fastest in Friday’s opening practice, said he didn’t “connect the dots” in either round of knockout qualifying. Nevertheless, the consensus in the garage is that Harvick, who has won three of the last four Phoenix races, has the fastest car in race trim.

“I just didn’t hit everything on both laps,” Harvick said. “I got up the race track a little bit the first lap in turn 1, and on the second lap, I got up the track at turns 3 and 4. So I just missed it by a little bit, but our Budweiser Chevrolet is really good in race trim and (I’m) really looking forward to the race.

“We have to keep tweaking on it tomorrow and know we qualified 13th here the first time and drove to the lead. We have to keep doing what we’re doing, and we’ll be fine.”

Keselowski and Harvick, who are seventh and eighth in the Chase standings know that a victory at Phoenix is their surest path to the season finale. Keselowski, who had to win at Talladega to advance to the Eliminator Round, spelled it out.

“Technically, I don’t have to win this race, but the probabilities are that I do,” he explained. “I think it will be very hard to pass three cars in points. I think I’m within five on all three, but that means if you didn’t win, you’d have to beat at least three cars by five spots on the track—and these are good guys. These are good drivers and good teams.

“There’s a reason why they’re this far in the Chase, and to beat all three of those by five spots, that’s a tough task for anyone to really feel good about. But you know if you win, you’re in, and that’s the great thing about this system and we have a great shot at it, for sure.”

Chase driver Carl Edwards was 25th fastest in opening practice but improved to 13th in time trials.

“I hate to admit it, but I’m very happy with 13th,” Edwards said. “We were about a 25th-place car in practice, and I was nervous about this and it went well, so that’s good. I’m telling you, we’re within striking distance.

“We’re better than we qualified in the spring, and now we work on race trim. We’re always better in the race here than we are in qualifying, so we’ll just go focus on it and keep digging.”

Ryan Newman, who needs a ninth-place finish to advance to Homestead with title eligibility, qualified 20th, deepest in the field of the Chase drivers.

Clay Rogers failed to make the 43-car field.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Phoenix International Raceway – Avondale, AZ
Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 Qualifying – Nov. 7, 2014

1. Denny Hamlin – 142.113 mph
2. Brad Keselowski – 142.079
3. Kevin Harvick – 141.995
4. Joey Logano – 141.794
Decreases insomnia According to studies conducted by experts tadalafil canadian pharmacy devensec.com is the product that improves erections in more than 80% of men using levitra 100 mg versus 24% of men taking a sugar pill. It is always suggested to understand the cause viagra ordination of ED i.e. Male sexual discount viagra confidence plays an important part for the organ becoming erect. Patient must stop taking this medicine immediately and inform to the doctor for its advice if patient has diseases/problems vardenafil india such as- stroke, leukemia, multiple myeloma, heart problems, anemia, blood pressure problem’s, kidney or liver problems. 5. Matt Kenseth – 141.794
6. Kyle Busch – 141.771
7. Jeff Gordon – 141.665
8. Kyle Larson – 141.321
9. Brian Vickers – 141.287
10. Kurt Busch – 141.188
11. Paul Menard – 140.889
12. Casey Mears – 139.746
13. Carl Edwards – 140.488
14. Martin Truex, Jr. – 140.411
15. Jimmie Johnson – 140.356
16. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – 140.285
17. Clint Bowyer – 140.192
18. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – 140.187
19. Jamie McMurray – 140.16
20. Ryan Newman – 140.127
21. Marcos Ambrose – 140.045
22. Kasey Kahne – 139.969
23. Aric Almirola – 139.958
24. A.J. Allmendinger – 139.746
25. Austin Dillon – 139.697
26. Ty Dillon – 139.432
27. Justin Allgaier – 139.394
28. Greg Biffle – 139.34
29. Tony Stewart – 139.195
30. Michael Annett – 139.104
31. Michael McDowell – 138.873
32. Danica Patrick – 138.851
33. Reed Sorenson – 138.691
34. David Gilliland – 138.307
35. David Ragan – 138.281
36. Josh Wise – 137.942
37. Alex Bowman – Owner Points
38. Landon Cassill – Owner Points
39. Mike Bliss – Owner Points
40. Cole Whitt – Owner Points
41. J.J. Yeley – Owner Points
42. Joey Gase – Owner Points
43. Mike Wallace – Owner Points