RICHMOND, Va. — Denny Hamlin will start on the pole position of his hometown track for the fourth time, winning the Richmond Raceway pole position with a lap of 22.85 seconds around the 0.75-mile oval.
The No. 11 Toyota driver, who grew up in Chesterfield about 20 minutes south of the track, earned his 43rd career pole position and third this season in the NASCAR Cup Series. Hamlin barely squeaked into the 10-driver final round of qualifying after turning the fifth-fastest lap in the first group.
“The team made great adjustments, that’s the bottom line to it,” Hamlin told NBC Sports’ Dillon Welch. "(Crew chief Chris Gabehart) told me if I backed up (his first-round time), we’d have a shot at it.
RESULTS: Click here for qualifying speeds at Richmond
STARTING LINEUPS: By row l By car number
“Certainly a great job by the whole team and certainly unexpected given the practice and first-round qualifying that we had. We just made the correct adjustments that we’re going to have to make for the race as well. I think we’re heading in the right direction.”
Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. will start second, followed by rookie Josh Berry and Chase Elliott.
Sunday will be the first Cup Series points race in history with two tire compounds for teams.
The primary tire, which will feature yellow lettering, is expected to last about 75 laps while the option tire, which will feature red lettering, will be faster at the start of the run but wear out more quickly and lose pace at a greater rate after about 25 laps.
Teams will have eight sets of tires for the 400-lap race, six prime and two option sets.
The primary tire was used in the March 31 race at Richmond. The option tire was used in the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway in the only other Cup event featuring two compounds.
Here’s the NASCAR Cup Series starting lineup for Sunday at Richmond Raceway:
ROW 1
1. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, 22.850 seconds (118.162 mph)
2, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Toyota, 22.916 (117.822)
ROW 2
3. Josh Berry, No. 4 Ford, 22.959 (117.601)
4. Chase Elliott, No. 9 Chevrolet, 22.861 (118.105)
ROW 3
5. Christopher Bell, No. 20 Toyota, 22.965 (117.570)
6. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, 22.926 (117.770)
ROW 4
7. Chris Buescher, No. 17 Ford, 22.986 (117.463)
8. Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Toyota, 22.961 (117.591)
ROW 5
9. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, 23.058 (117.096)
10. Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Toytoa, 22.981 (117.488)
ROW 6
11. Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Ford, 22.671 (119.095)
12. Kyle Busch, No. 8 Chevrolet, 22.868 (118.069)
ROW 7
13. William Byron, No. 24 Chevrolet, 22.672 (119.090)
14. Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Toyota, 22.896 (117.925)
ROW 8
15. Kyle Larson, No. 5 Chevrolet, 22.686 (119.016)
16. Noah Gragson, No. 10 Ford, 22.913 (117.837)
ROW 9
17. Alex Bowman, No. 48 Chevrolet, 22.728 (118.796)
18. Austin Cindric, No. 2 Ford, 22.920 (117.801)
ROW 10
19. Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Chevrolet, 22.742 (118.723)
20. Zane Smith, No. 71 Chevrolet, 22.989 (117.447)
ROW 11
21. Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Chevrolet, 22.743 (118.718)
22. Ross Chastain, No. 1 Chevrolet, 23.091 (116.929)
ROW 12
23. Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Ford, 22.769 (118.582)
24. Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Chevrolet, 23.098 (116.893)
ROW 13
25. Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Ford, 22.807 (118.385)
26. Ryan Preece, No. 41 Ford, 23.156 (116.600)
ROW 14
27. Erik Jones, No. 43 Toyota, 22.840 (118.214)
28. Michael McDowell, No. 34 Ford, 23.330 (115.731)
ROW 15
29. Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Ford, 22.886 (117.976)
30. Ty Dillon, No. 16 Chevrolet, 23.333 (115.716)
ROW 16
31. Harrison Burton, No. 21 Ford, 22.960 (117.596)
32. Daniel Hemric, No. 31 Chevrolet, 23.361 (115.577)
ROW 17
33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Chevrolet, 22.974 (117.524)
34. Riley Herbst, No. 15 Ford, 23.421 (115.281)
ROW 18
35. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Toyota, 22.998 (117.402)
36. Justin Haley, No. 51 Ford, 23.436 (115.207)
ROW 19
37. Parker Retzlaff, No. 66 Ford, 23.189 (116.435)