Denny Hamlin edges Kyle Larson for Richmond pole

With high temperatures and speeds decreasing with tire falloff through the three-round qualifying session, Hamlin’s third round average speed at 122.344 mph was good enough to earn the pole for Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400.

Kyle Larson came closest to knocking off Hamlin late in the five minute final session with an average lap speed of 122.288 mph.

Matt Kenseth will start third, Jamie McMurray fourth and Kurt Busch – who was fastest in the first two rounds – will line up fifth.

The pole is Hamlin’s first this season, 24th of his Cup career and third at his hometown track of Richmond.

“Had a great car, obviously,” Hamlin said after the session. “We had some tire falloff as he ran more laps than a lot of the guys but our car was awesome. I guess my car’s going to be pretty good in the long run (in the race), so I’m happy about that.”

After coming failing to go to the top of the scoring pylon in the third round, Kurt Busch simply said, “Right rear,” over his team radio, apparently indicating an area of concern on his No. 41 Chevrolet.

Busch’s lap in Round 1 of 123.808 mph ended up being the fastest lap in the entire qualifying session.

Rounding out the top 12: Martin Truex Jr., Kasey Kahne, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Joey Logano.

Round 2

Hamlin was the only driver to take to the track for the first two minutes of the 10-minute second round qualifying session, but Kurt Busch eventually knocked him from the top spot.

In the second round, Busch’s best average lap speed was 123.338 mph. He was followed by Truex, Hamlin, Larson and Kyle Busch.

Also advancing to the final round were: McMurray, Gordon, Kenseth, Kahne, Johnson, Dillon and Logano.

Among those who failed to advance were Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, Brad Keselowski and Ryan Newman.

“I just feel like we were halfway balanced and just lacking a little bit of grip,” Newman said. “We made it better but not good enough to make the last round.”

Round 1

Kurt Busch led the way in the 20-minute opening qualifying session, posting an average lap speed of 123.808 mph.

Kahne was second, Kyle Busch third, Larson fourth and Dillon fifth-fastest. Regan Smith posted the 20th-fastest speed – the first time the Tommy Baldwin Racing team has advanced out of the first round all season.

Casey Mears, who was fastest in final practice, failed to advance to the second round, and will line up 26th in Saturday night’s race.

“We went out early in Happy Hour and that made the difference. I think the car’s been driving half-way decent,” he said. “It’s definitely not what we wanted, we were hoping to make the Top 24.”

The biggest surprise in the first round was likely rookie Chase Elliott, who ended up 34th, tying his third-worst start of the season.

“We just haven’t been where we wanted to be especially during mock qualifying runs and especially now in qualifying,” Elliott said. “It’s a long race tomorrow night. We’re going to have to lean on our (Hendrick Motorsports) teammates tomorrow night.”

Among those also failing to advance to Round 2 were Danica Patrick, Clint Bowyer, rookie Chris Buescher and Greg Biffle.

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	3	22.069			122.344
2	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	2	22.079	0.010	0.010	122.288
3	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	3	22.087	0.018	0.008	122.244
4	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	3	22.097	0.028	0.010	122.189
5	41	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	2	22.105	0.036	0.008	122.144
6	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	3	22.123	0.054	0.018	122.045
7	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	3	22.123	0.054	0.000	122.045
8	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	3	22.197	0.128	0.074	121.638
9	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	2	22.230	0.161	0.033	121.457
10	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	2	22.323	0.254	0.093	120.951