Qualifying report
NASCAR Cup Martinsville II
Denny Hamlin takes pole position at Martinsville
Denny Hamlin said he couldn’t wait to get to Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and on Saturday he showed why.
Jim Utter
Edited: Oct 26, 2019, 9:42 PM
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Hamlin’s average lap speed of 97.840 mph in Saturday’s qualifying session was enough to hold off Chase Elliott to win the pole for Sunday’s First Data 500.
The pole is his third of the 2019 Cup Series season and 33rd of his career. It’s also his fourth pole at Martinsville but first since the 2013 season.
“I did an OK job but this car has been good all weekend so far,” said Hamlin, who won last weekend at Kansas Speedway. “It was pretty fast in practice.
“The feel hasn’t always been great but it’s hard pretty decent speed. I’m pretty happy with it and look forward to 500 more laps of this on Sunday.”
Elliott (97.694 mph) will officially share the front row with Hamlin but will have to start the race from the rear of the field after his team made an engine change in his No. 9 Chevrolet earlier Saturday.
Martin Truex Jr. was third-fastest (97.463 mph). Aric Almirola was fourth and Michael McDowell rounded out the top-five.
Completing the top-10 starters are Ryan Blaney, Clint Bowyer, Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez and Joey Logano.
Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Interval Mph 1 11 
Denny Hamlin Toyota 2 19.354 97.840 2 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 2 19.383 00.029 00.029 97.694 3 19 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 2 19.429 00.075 00.046 97.463 4 10 Aric Almirola Ford 2 19.453 00.099 00.024 97.342 5 34 Michael McDowell Ford 2 19.471 00.117 00.018 97.252 6 12 Ryan Blaney Ford 2 19.487 00.133 00.016 97.172 7 14 Clint Bowyer Ford 2 19.488 00.134 00.001 97.167 8 20 Erik Jones Toyota 2 19.492 00.138 00.004 97.148 9 41 
Daniel Suarez Ford 2 19.506 00.152 00.014 97.078 10 22 Joey Logano Ford 2 19.509 00.155 00.003 97.063 11 24 William Byron Chevrolet 2 19.525 00.171 00.016 96.983 12 95 Matt DiBenedetto Toyota 2 19.545 00.191 00.020 96.884 13 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 2 19.547 00.193 00.002 96.874 14 42 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 2 19.547 00.193 00.000 96.874 15 2 Brad Keselowski Ford 2 19.579 00.225 00.032 96.716 16 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 2 19.593 00.239 00.014 96.647 17 38 David Ragan Ford 2 19.619 00.265 00.026 96.519 18 8 Daniel Hemric Chevrolet 2 19.641 00.287 00.022 96.411 19 88 Alex Bowman Chevrolet 2 19.650 00.296 00.009 96.366 20 37 Chris Buescher Chevrolet 2 19.669 00.315 00.019 96.273 21 47 Ryan Preece Chevrolet 2 19.686 00.332 00.017 96.190 22 4 Kevin Harvick Ford 2 19.688 00.334 00.002 96.180 23 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 2 19.732 00.378 00.044 95.966 24 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 2 19.742 00.388 00.010 95.917 25 1 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 2 19.745 00.391 00.003 95.903 26 43 Darrell Wallace Jr. Chevrolet 2 19.756 00.402 00.011 95.849 27 6 Ryan Newman Ford 2 19.762 00.408 00.006 95.820 28 32 Corey Lajoie Ford 2 19.796 00.442 00.034 95.656 29 13 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 2 19.821 00.467 00.025 95.535 30 21 Paul Menard Ford 2 19.900 00.546 00.079 95.156 31 36 Matt Crafton Ford 2 20.031 00.677 00.131 94.533 32 00 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 2 20.070 00.716 00.039 94.350 33 51 B.J. McLeod Chevrolet 2 20.141 00.787 00.071 94.017 34 27 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 2 20.150 00.796 00.009 93.975 35 53 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 2 20.292 00.938 00.142 93.318 36 15 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 1 20.401 01.047 00.109 92.819 37 77 Timmy Hill Chevrolet 2 20.449 01.095 00.048 92.601 38 52 Garrett Smithley Chevrolet 2 20.477 01.123 00.028 92.474
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