FedEx driver wins pole for FedEx 400

FedEx driver Denny Hamlin wins pole for FedEx 400

Only in NASCAR. FedEx driver Denny Hamlin rolled to the Coors Light Pole Award in Friday afternoon's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying at Dover International Speedway for the FedEx 400

Hamlin drove the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota to a fast lap of 160.121 mph on the 1-mile concrete oval. He'll start first in Sunday's FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks (1 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM).

The pole position was Hamlin's first of the season, third at the Monster Mile and 21st of his Sprint Cup career. The pole-winning lap was significantly slower than the track qualifying record of 164.444 mph set by Brad Keselowski in May.

"It's great," said Hamlin, who also won the Dover pole in September 2012 and May 2013. "Obviously our car's shown speed all day long, which is something that we haven't had lately, so we're kind of building and getting a little bit better and starting to figure out our setups and whatnot. So we're getting better and obviously this kind of shows it."

Martin Truex Jr., second in the Sprint Cup standings, will share Sunday's front row in the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Chevrolet after notching the second-fastest lap at 159.723 mph. Kyle Larson, Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano completed the top five.

Defending Sprint Cup champion and current points leader Kevin Harvick qualified sixth-fastest in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet. Kyle Busch, making just his second start of the season in points-paying races since returning from serious leg injuries in a February crash at Daytona, earned the 10th starting spot in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota.

Some big names were left out of later qualifying rounds at the two elimination stages in the three-round format. Jimmie Johnson, a nine-time Dover winner in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet, was among them. After leading opening Sprint Cup practice earlier in the day, he posted just the 14th-fastest lap in Round 2, failing to make the final cut to determine the top 12 starters.

"I think, in a sense, we maybe didn't make the changes we need to or thought we needed to change, because the car had so much speed in that first practice session, but it's a totally different race track," Johnson said. "And we tried to plan ahead and made some small changes, but it wasn't enough."

Kurt Busch was also in that unfortunate group, making just the 13th-best lap to miss the cut for the final, five-minute round.

Keselowski was the final driver to make the cut after Round 1, edging Kasey Kahne by .005 seconds for the 24th spot. The Team Penske driver ended up qualifying 19th. Three-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart also just missed the cut, posting the 26th-fastest lap.

Jeff Green and Travis Kvapil failed to qualify for the 43-car field.

Sprint Cup drivers will have their final chance to tune up for Sunday's 400-miler in a pair of practice sessions Saturday (10-10:55 a.m. ET and 1-1:55 p.m. ET, FS1).

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Cares Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing

Starting Position: 1st

What does it mean to get the pole this weekend in Dover?

“It’s so special especially during FedEx 400 weekend. The FedEx Cares is about the employees – the 70,000 hours that they spend volunteering all over the world to help people in need, so this is part of that program and Autism Speaks is on the car once again. So, I’m proud of the efforts of our race team. We came here and we tested and we felt pretty good about it and my team just brought me another fast Camry."

Is it important to get the number one pit box here at Dover?

“It will pay off for sure. I was really more optimistic with our race trim than what I was with our qualifying so I’m very optimistic that hopefully we can put this FedEx Cares Camry in victory lane where it belongs on Sunday."

What does it mean to start Sunday’s race as the pole sitter?

“It’s great. Obviously our car has shown speed all day long, which is something we haven’t had lately, so we’re kind of building and getting a little bit better and starting to figure out our setups. We’re getting better and obviously this kind of shows it. Looks like all of our cars were in the top-10, so pretty optimistic. I felt like a lot of the speed came from the tire test that we had here, we were able to try some new things. Obviously I feel like we have gotten our cars better and really the setups we have developed have been quite a bit different."

What has made a difference in allowing you to win so many poles at Dover in recent years?

“Well, we still haven’t won here, but we’ve been more competitive for sure. Whatever it is about the qualifying here, it just seems to suit myself and my driving style. We’ve qualified well here in the past, but haven’t always raced that well. I’m pretty confident come Sunday, we’ll be contenders. Really just from the extra laps that I got here from the test is what gives me that confidence. I think overall we’re just clicking away and getting a little bit better as the season goes and this is a good sign."

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