NASCAR: Denny Hamlin wins pole for Cup race at Atlanta

Denny Hamlin isn’t a good qualifier, witness only seven poles in 175 career Cup starts before this weekend. His last pole was October at Fontana, and he had only six single-digit qualifying runs this year before Saturday qualifying for Sunday night’s Emory HealthCare 500.

Make that seven single-digit qualifying efforts this year and eight career poles, and his latest pole couldn’t have come at a better time. With the 10-race, championship-deciding Chase for the Cup opening in three weeks, Hamlin and his No. 11 Toyota team needed the uplift they got from Saturday’s pole run.

“Our Chase starts this weekend because we can’t wait for Loudon (on Sept. 19) to find out how we stack up against everybody else,” the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said. “We’ve been up and down the last 10 races after being spoiled with that hot stretch (five wins in a 10-race stretch) earlier in the year. Now, we’re going back to points racing, like this is the Chase. We ran better and won more races when we were worrying about running hard enough to make the Chase. We’re going to throw caution to the wind these next two races. Going for wins (in the last 15 or so races) probably hurt us. We’re going points racing again.”

Ryan Newman held the pole most of the session, even as everyone knew speeds would pick up as the track cooled and gained grip. Newman survived strong runs by Kyle Busch and Juan Pablo Montoya, but slipped to second when Hamlin went late in the session. Newman held on for second, followed in the top 10 by Busch, Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart, Martin Truex Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Montoya, David Ragan and Kasey Kahne.

“It wasn’t perfect but I knew it was a good lap,” Hamlin said. “My heart was racing going down the backstretch because I knew I hit turn one pretty good. I had to check up a little in (turns) three and four to keep it on the bottom. I’m not a qualifier and any of my fans know that. I’m usually in the 20s when I win races. I’m typically a really bad qualifier, but I definitely think we have a heck of a race car this weekend.”

When the Chase opens, Hamlin will be seeded no worse than third. He goes into Sunday night’s 500-mile race fifth in points with five wins, nine top 5s and 10 top 10s in 24 starts. His five wins mean 50 bonus points to the 5,000 each of the 12 Chase drivers get. Four-time defending champion Johnson also has five wins and points leader Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch have three. If Harvick or Busch sweep Atlanta and Richmond, three drivers will start the Chase with 5,050 points. In case of ties, the standings after Richmond on Sept. 11 will determine the top-12 seeding for the Chase.

STARTING LINEUP

1. Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 187.380 mph

2. Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 187.070 mph

3. Kyle Busch, Toyota, 187.063 mph

4. Carl Edwards, Ford, 186.881 mph

5. Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 186.881 mph

6. Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 186.818 mph

7. Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 186.711 mph

8. Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 186.711 mph

9. David Ragan, Ford, 186.692 mph

10. Kasey Kahne, Ford, 186.667 mph

11. Kurt Busch, Dodge, 186.234 mph

12. Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 186.171 mph

13. David Reutimann, Toyota, 186.128 mph

14. Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 186.040 mph

15. Greg Biffle Ford, 185.978 mph

16. AJ Allmendinger, Ford, 185.972 mph

17. Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 185.238mph

18. Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 184.911 mph

19. Paul Menard, Ford, 184.892 mph

20. Scott Speed, Toyota, 184.757 mph

21. Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 184.726 mph

22. Elliott Sadler, Ford, 184.671 mph

23. Michael McDowell, Toyota, 184.603 mph

24. Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 184.572 mph

25. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 184.437 mph

26. Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 184.431 mph

27. Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 184.333 mph

28. Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 184.290 mph

29. Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 184.272 mph

30. Matt Kenseth, Ford, 184.186 mph

31. Joey Logano, Toyota, 184.143 mph

32. Marcos Ambrose, Toyota, 184.058 mph

33. Reed Sorenson, Toyota, 183.503 mph

34. Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 183.097 mph

35. Patrick Carpentier, Ford, 183.055 mph

36. David Gilliland, Ford, 183.043 mph

37. Dave Blaney, Ford, 182.982 mph

38. J.J. Yeley, Toyota, 182.904 mph

39. Mike Bliss, Toyota, 182.880 mph

40. Bill Elliott, Ford, 182.380 mph

41. Travis Kvapil, Ford, Owner points

42. Kevin Conway, Ford, Owner points

43. Casey Mears, Toyota, 182.326 mph

Did not qualify: Todd Bodine, Scott Riggs, Jason Leffler, and Landon Cassill

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