Additional Coverage:
- Denny Hamlin qualifies first at Martinsville, moves into tie for 10th in NASCAR poles (nbcsports.com)
MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Denny Hamlin secured the pole position at Martinsville Speedway for the fifth time in his career, marking the 49th pole of his NASCAR Cup Series journey. This achievement ties him with NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Isaac for 10th place on the all-time poles list.
Hamlin, driving the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, posted a qualifying lap at 98.241 mph on Saturday, edging out William Byron, who qualified second in the No.
24 Chevrolet with a speed of 97.957 mph. The pole sets the stage for Sunday’s 400-lap race at the short track.
Two weeks prior, Hamlin clinched a victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, surpassing Kevin Harvick for 10th place on NASCAR’s all-time Cup Series win list. At 45 years old, Hamlin remains a formidable competitor, closing in on Ryan Newman’s career pole total, a benchmark for qualifying excellence.
“It’s pretty awesome,” Hamlin said, reflecting on his continued speed despite the challenges that come with age. “Usually the first thing to go is your all-out speed, and we’re still knocking off poles, which is really good.
I was around when Newman was just unstoppable in qualifying. So damn, I didn’t know he had that many.”
Hamlin boasts six career wins at Martinsville, including last season’s victory that ended a decade-long winless streak at the 0.526-mile oval.
William Byron, who captured last October’s Martinsville race and has won three of the last eight events at the track, expressed confidence in his equipment heading into the race. “I feel like our race car is going to be really good tomorrow,” said Byron, whose best starting position this season was ninth at both Phoenix and Las Vegas.
“We’ve learned a lot this year. It seems like Saturdays have been a struggle for us this year and not as consistent as we’d like.”
Josh Berry qualified third, with Ty Gibbs and Shane van Gisbergen rounding out the top five starters. Meanwhile, Brad Keselowski, set to make his 600th career start on Sunday, qualified 23rd.