Denny Hamlin on MASCAR Cup Series pole at Richmond
Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
RICHMOND, Va. — Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. will lead the field to the green flag for Sunday night’s NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway (6 p.m. ET, USA, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
The fast lap of 118.162 mph in the No. 11 JGR Toyota landed Hamlin, 43, his third Busch Light Pole Award of the 2024 season. It’s his fourth career pole position at the 0.75-mile Virginia short track for Hamlin, who grew up in the Richmond area and is the hometown favorite this weekend. It is the 54th career pole position for the five-time Richmond winner.
Asked after the session about his work, Hamlin grinned and noted, “We were the slowest car in the first round, but the team made great adjustments and that’s the bottom line to it.
“Was I surprised it held up? Yes, I was,” Hamlin said of being the first to turn in a lap in the final session.
“He [crew chief Chris Gabehart] told me if we backed up my [first round] time we’d have a shot at it. Certainly a great job by this whole FedEx Camry team. Certainly unexpected given the practice and first-round qualifying we had.
“We just made the correct adjustments that we’re going to have to make in the race as well. I think we’re headed in the right direction.”
It is the first front-row start of the season for Truex, a three-time Richmond winner who is still racing for his first trophy of the year. He’s ranked 13th in the playoff standings, 108 points up on the field with the top-16 drivers advancing to the 10-race championship battle.
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Josh Berry and Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott will start from the second row, followed by JGR’s Christopher Bell and Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon, who is making only his second top-10 start of the season.
Defending race winner, RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher qualified seventh and will start alongside 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace. Team Penske’s Joey Logano and 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick rounded out the top 10 who advanced to the final qualifying session.
Current Cup Series championship leader, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson will start 15th. The track’s winningest active driver Kyle Busch (six wins) will roll off 12th.
“I love winning here and to have five [wins] is certainly exciting and I feel like they have each been a little different,” Hamlin said, adding, “It feels good to come here and still be able to perform 20 years later.”
A 45-minute practice session before qualifying allowed teams to try out the special “option tire” that NASCAR has made available this week. Teams have been given six sets of “prime tires” and two sets of “option tires” for use during the race.
Goodyear’s “prime” tires are a harder rubber compound with typically less grip but will last longer. The new “option” tire has a softer rubber compound offering more grip and speed but will not last as long.
“I think both the option and primary tire behaved about as we expected,” said Goodyear’s Director of Racing Greg Stucker, adding, “So far in the conditions we have now, we like what we see.”
The drivers were also complimentary.
“I understand why we’re doing it and I think it was a good idea,” Hamlin said of the option tire.
Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon topped the leaderboard at 118.953 mph in the 45-minute practice session. Bubba Wallace (118.859 mph), Christopher Bell (118.760 mph), Martin Truex Jr. (118.707 mph) and Zane Smith (118.702 mph) rounded out the top five.
Carson Hocevar (118.530 mph), Chris Buescher (118.457 mph), Michael McDowell (118.229 mph), Daniel Suárez (118.203 mph) and Ty Gibbs (118.043 mph) completed the top 10.
Starting Line Up by Row
Richmond Raceway
Cook Out 400
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 8/10/2024 @ 06:59 PM Eastern
Driver Date Time Speed
Track Race Record: Dale Jarrett 09/06/97 2:45:04 109.047
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
Row 1: 1 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Rewards Toyota 22.850 118.162
2 19 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Toyota 22.916 117.822
Row 2: 3 4 Josh Berry # P&G Supports Our Military Ford 22.959 117.601
4 9 Chase Elliott Coca-Cola Chevrolet 22.861 118.105
Row 3: 5 20 Christopher Bell DEWALT Carpentry Solutions Toyota 22.965 117.570
6 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 22.926 117.770
Row 4: 7 17 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford 22.986 117.463
8 23 Bubba Wallace Leidos Toyota 22.961 117.591
Row 5: 9 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 23.058 117.096
10 45 Tyler Reddick Mobil 1 Toyota 22.981 117.488
Row 6: 11 12 Ryan Blaney BodyArmor Sport Water Ford 22.671 119.095
12 8 Kyle Busch Cheddar's Patriotic Chevrolet 22.868 118.069
Row 7: 13 24 William Byron Valvoline Chevrolet 22.672 119.090
14 54 Ty Gibbs He Gets Us Toyota 22.896 117.925
Row 8: 15 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 22.686 119.016
16 10 Noah Gragson Overstock.com Ford 22.913 117.837
Row 9: 17 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 22.728 118.796
18 2 Austin Cindric Menards/Libman Ford 22.920 117.801
Row 10: 19 77 Carson Hocevar # Delaware Life Chevrolet 22.742 118.723
20 71 Zane Smith # Focused Health Chevrolet 22.989 117.447
Row 11: 21 99 Daniel Suarez Choice Privileges Chevrolet 22.743 118.718
22 1 Ross Chastain Jockey Infinite Cool Underwear Chevrolet 23.091 116.929
Row 12: 23 38 Todd Gilliland The Pete Store Ford 22.769 118.582
24 7 Corey LaJoie Advisor Advantage/Clear Spring Chevrolet 23.098 116.893
Row 13: 25 14 Chase Briscoe Rinnai Ford 22.807 118.385
26 41 Ryan Preece Mohawk Northeast Ford 23.156 116.600
Row 14: 27 43 Erik Jones Family Dollar Toyota 22.840 118.214
28 34 Michael McDowell Love's Travel Stops Ford 23.330 115.731
Row 15: 29 6 Brad Keselowski BuildSubmarines.com Ford 22.886 117.976
30 16 Ty Dillon(i) Chevy Accessories Chevrolet 23.333 115.716
Row 16: 31 21 Harrison Burton DEX Imaging Ford 22.960 117.596
32 31 Daniel Hemric Cirkul Chevrolet 23.361 115.577
Row 17: 33 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Kroger/General Mills Box Tops Chevrolet 22.974 117.524
34 15 Riley Herbst(i) Monster Energy Zero Sugar Ford 23.421 115.281
Row 18: 35 42 John Hunter Nemechek Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota 22.998 117.402
36 51 Justin Haley Pinnacle Home Improvement Ford 23.436 115.207
Row 19: 37 66 Parker Retzlaff(i) XInsurance Ford 23.189 116.435
Did Not Qualify: None.
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Ford 15 0 Chevrolet 14 0
Toyota 8 0
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Our Partners
.png)
