Denny Hamlin streaked around 2-mile Auto Club Speedway in 39.158 seconds (183.870 mph) to win the pole for Sunday’s Pepsi 500 in decisive fashion.
The third driver to make a qualifying attempt, Hamlin posted his lap and waited as the top three drivers in Friday’s practice session (speeds)—Juan Montoya, Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin—took their best shots and fell short. NASCAR
“It’s been a long time for me, especially on a track like this,” Hamlin said. “Our big track program—mile-and-a-half and two-mile programs—have been getting better and better. It’s kind of our strong suit at this point.”
David Reutimann, who is not in the Chase, qualified second, but his time was disallowed after his Toyota failed post-qualifying inspection. NASCAR confiscated Reutimann’s rear shocks after the gas level in the shocks were found to be too high. He will start 42nd.
Martin Truex Jr. completed the top-five.
Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Martin and Jeff Gordon, who is seventh in points, will start sixth through 10th, respectively. MiamiHerald.com
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway - Race Line-Up
“When you run so horribly in practice, you’re at liberty to throw whatever you want at it and we just came up with a great setup,” Hamlin said after winning his seventh career pole. “The only other time I can remember this situation happening was our first Pocono race. We were about 20-something in practice and horrible and we threw something at it and picked it up huge in qualifying and in the race as well.”
Hamlin is sixth in the standings heading into the fourth race of the 10-race Chase, 99 points behind Martin. Hamlin predicted before the Chase began that he could pick up a victory or two and become a factor.
He’s slipped slightly the last two weeks, but has performed well at California. He was sixth during the February race here and finished third in the fall race a year ago. The Associated Press
“Not bad. It equaled what we had in practice, about the same speed and we didn’t change a lot. The car was consistent and backed up what we did earlier. Obviously, we would have liked to have a little bit more speed,’’ said Johnson. “Hamlin put down one heck of a lap. Fourth isn’t bad and we’ll take it from there. ” AHN
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