Perhaps the rest of NASCAR is catching up with frequent pole sitters Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski. Today at 1:00 p.m. ET the Sprint Cup Series at Bristol Motor Speedway will get underway on Fox with Denny Hamlin in front. Live stream the race for free by clicking this link.
Hamlin set the Bristol grid record with a qualifying lap of 129.991 miles an hour, breaking his teammate Kyle Busch's record that was set just last year.
"As a short track guy, I can feel when, 'OK, this is all I've got.' Or, 'This is a really good lap," Hamlin said. By taking the pole he became the first driver not named Logano or Keselowski to start a Sprint Cup Series race in first place since NASCAR instituted the new qualifying format.
"If that wasn't a top-12 lap, we were in big trouble. So I knew that was going to be good. Then ultimately strategy comes into play, wanting to conserve your car and keeping everything as cool as you can for the second segment," Hamlin said.
"I was going to run two laps in the second segment, but I bobbled it pretty bad into Turn 3 and didn't finish the lap. But I knew the first one was good."
Keselowski still did well, coming in second, while Logano will start in fourth position. "I feel like we did what we were supposed to do to be able to go out there and give it a shot for the pole," said Logano. "Denny's strategy was pretty good. Just not good enough for us."
Dale Earnhardt Jr., who wont he Daytona 500 and is racing as well as he has in his entire career will begin in 14th position.
| 1 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 129.991 mph | |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 129.965 mph | |
| 3 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 129.073 mph | |
| 4 | Joey Logano | Ford | 128.830 mph | |
| 5 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | 128.727 mph | |
| 6 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | 128.245 mph | |
| 7 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 128.159 mph | |
| 8 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 127.946 mph | |
| 9 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 127.801 mph | |
| 10 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 127.690 mph | |
| 11 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 127.385 mph | |
| 12 | Carl Edwards | Ford | 127.073 mph | |
| 13 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 128.322 mph | |
| 14 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 128.271 mph | |
| 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 128.245 mph | |
| 16 | David Gilliland | Ford | 128.236 mph | |
| 17 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 128.168 mph | |
| 18 | Cole Whitt | Toyota | 127.929 mph | |
| 19 | David Ragan | Ford | 127.903 mph | |
| 20 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 127.792 mph | |
| 21 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford | 127.682 mph | |
| 22 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 127.648 mph | |
| 23 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 127.605 mph | |
| 24 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 127.605 mph | |
| 25 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | 127.597 mph | |
| 26 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 127.529 mph | |
| 27 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 127.444 mph | |
| 28 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 127.436 mph | |
| 29 | Martin Truex Jr. | Chevrolet | 127.351 mph | |
| 30 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | 127.343 mph | |
| 31 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 127.182 mph | |
| 32 | Josh Wise | Chevrolet | 127.174 mph | |
| 33 | Alex Bowman | Toyota | 127.165 mph | |
| 34 | Michael Annett | Chevrolet | 126.896 mph | |
| 35 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 126.645 mph | |
| 36 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | 126.628 mph | |
| 37 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 126.545 mph | |
| 38 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | 126.445 mph | |
| 39 | Travis Kvapil | Ford | 126.303 mph | |
| 40 | Ryan Truex | Toyota | 125.363 mph | |
| 41 | Parker Kligerman | Toyota | 124.460 mph | |
| 42 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | 122.537 mph | |
| 43 | Timmy Hill | Chevrolet | 122.084 mph |
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