Denny Hamlin laid down a lap at 22.069 seconds (122.344 mph) to earn the the pole for Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Speedway on Friday.

The pole was the first of the season for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver and it comes in the final non-Chase event of the year.

“I thought for sure we had too many laps on our tires,” Hamlin said. “A lot of the guys that we were challenging only had one lap per session, but my car didn’t really come in that quick, so I had to run multiple laps.

“And on a short track that wears out tires, I thought we were at a huge disadvantage. Just proud of the effort. … And, obviously, running that fast for that many laps tells us we have a really good car for the long runs. So pretty optimistic, and we’ll see if we can’t get a win.”

Hamlin edged Kyle Larson by .010 seconds.

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Qualifying – Federated Auto Parts 400

Richmond International Raceway

Richmond, Virginia

Friday, September 09, 2016

1. (11)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 122.344 mph.
2. (42)  Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 122.288 mph.
3. (20)  Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 122.244 mph.
4. (1)  Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 122.189 mph.
5. (41)  Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 122.144 mph.
6. (78)  Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 122.045 mph.
7. (5)  Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 122.045 mph.
8. (3)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 121.638 mph.
9. (18)  Kyle Busch, Toyota, 121.457 mph.
10. (48)  Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 120.951 mph.
11. (88)  Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 120.827 mph.
12. (22)  Joey Logano, Ford, 120.579 mph.
13. (19)  Carl Edwards, Toyota, 122.272 mph.
14. (14)  Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 122.249 mph.
15. (31)  Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 122.045 mph.
16. (47)  AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 122.017 mph.
17. (2)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 121.924 mph.
18. (6)  Trevor Bayne, Ford, 121.770 mph.
19. (4)  Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 121.556 mph.
20. (21)  Ryan Blaney #, Ford, 121.529 mph.
21. (23)  David Ragan, Toyota, 121.310 mph.
22. (17)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 120.654 mph.
23. (43)  Aric Almirola, Ford, 120.401 mph.
24. (7)  Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 120.321 mph.
25. (93)  Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 122.299 mph.
26. (13)  Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 122.294 mph.
27. (95)  Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 122.288 mph.
28. (16)  Greg Biffle, Ford, 122.266 mph.
29. (10)  Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 122.161 mph.
30. (27)  Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 122.078 mph.
31. (34)  Chris Buescher #, Ford, 121.957 mph.
32. (38)  Landon Cassill, Ford, 121.935 mph.
33. (15)  Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 121.781 mph.
34. (24)  Chase Elliott #, Chevrolet, 121.775 mph.
35. (44)  Brian Scott #, Ford, 121.540 mph.
36. (30)  Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 121.250 mph.
37. (46)  Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 121.245 mph.
38. (55)  Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 120.924 mph.
39. (83)  Dylan Lupton(i), Toyota, 120.208 mph.
40. (32)  Jeffrey Earnhardt #, Ford, 120.182 mph.

1 drivers failed to qualify.

41. (98)  Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 119.899 mph.

 

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