CP MOTORSPORTS - THE JGR HOTSTREAK CONTINUES; HAMLIN WINS BRISTOL POLE
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Joe Gibbs Racing's stable of Toyotas are really starting to bring the heat.
Having already notched nine victories on the season, it's easy to say JGR is in championship form. You can say the gang is one step closer to a tenth victory with Denny Hamlin winning the pole for Saturday's Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol.
Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota also won the pole for Friday night's Xfinity series race at Bristol, scored his second top qualifying spot with a track qualifying record of 14.602 seconds and an average speed of 131.407 mph.
"It looks like I really got the car working the way I needed to there in that final practice,î Hamlin said. ìIt's a testament to these guys and what (crew chief) Dave Rogers did for us. Bristol has been a great track for me in the past, and weíve got nothing to lose this weekend just gearing up for the Chase, so I think our team is ready."
Friday's qualifying effort marks Hamlin's third pole position start in his career at Bristol and the 22nd of his career.
What was thought to be a hot streak has now become a trend for JGR as Hamlin is joined on the front row by his teammate Kyle Busch. Busch, who had one of the fastest race cars in Sprint Cup practice, laid down a lap of 14.618 seconds at 131.263 mph.
Busch, who also qualified in second place for Friday's Xfinity race, knows he and his teammates have fast race cars.
"It was really good," Busch said. "It's just good to be in the fast stuff and the Joe Gibbs Racing cars are certainly that. We've been really running up front and can't say enough about the Skittles bunch, they did a great job. The first run of the second session we were a little loose and we tried to adjust for that for the third session, we just didn't go far enough, we got loose again. We came in and just threw some adjustments at it and went back out and picked up time but didn't pick up that spot."
Carl Edwards joined his teammates by laying down the third fastest lap of knockout qualifying's final session. It's the 14th time Edwards has started inside the top ten in 24 races this season.
David Ragan put his No. 55 Toyota in the fourth starting position as Joey Logano broke up the Toyota-fest at the front by snagging the fifth place starting spot.
Brad Keselowski grabbed the sixth spot followed by Kevin Harvick, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr, Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson.
Matt Kenseth, who celebrated in Bristol's victory lane earlier this season, did not make the final round of knockout qualifying and will start in 13th place.
Jeff Gordon, who is making his final start at Bristol, will roll of the starting grid in the 24th spot.
Starting Line Up by Row
Bristol Motor Speedway
55th Annual IRWIN Tools Night Race
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Fri, August 21, 2015 @ 05:44 PM Central
Driver Date Time Speed
Track Race Record: Charlie Glotzbach 07/11/71 02:38:12 101.074
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
Row 1: 1 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 14.602 131.407
2 18 Kyle Busch Skittles Toyota 14.618 131.263
Row 2: 3 19 Carl Edwards Stanley Toyota 14.686 130.655
4 55 David Ragan Aaron's Online Dream Machine Toyota 14.708 130.460
Row 3: 5 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 14.721 130.344
6 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford 14.723 130.327
Row 4: 7 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser/Jimmy John's Chevrolet 14.726 130.300
8 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Fastenal Ford 14.746 130.123
Row 5: 9 15 Clint Bowyer 5-hour Energy Toyota 14.754 130.053
10 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's Pro Services Chevrolet 14.766 129.947
Row 6: 11 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 14.823 129.447
12 42 Kyle Larson Target Chevrolet 14.892 128.848
Row 7: 13 20 Matt Kenseth Dollar General Toyota 14.797 129.675
14 51 Justin Allgaier Brandt Chevrolet 14.834 129.351
Row 8: 15 21 Ryan Blaney(i) SKF Ford 14.850 129.212
16 3 Austin Dillon DOW Chevrolet 14.857 129.151
Row 9: 17 16 Greg Biffle Cheez-It Ford 14.895 128.822
18 31 Ryan Newman Caterpillar Chevrolet 14.909 128.701
Row 10: 19 5 Kasey Kahne Great Clips Chevrolet 14.920 128.606
20 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Nationwide Chevrolet 14.928 128.537
Row 11: 21 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald's/Cessna Chevrolet 14.960 128.262
22 6 Trevor Bayne AdvoCare Ford 14.968 128.193
Row 12: 23 78 Martin Truex Jr Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet 14.972 128.159
24 24 Jeff Gordon Axalta Chevrolet 14.992 127.988
Row 13: 25 47 AJ Allmendinger Bush's Grillin Beans Chevrolet 14.925 128.563
26 9 Sam Hornish Jr. Blue Emu Ford 14.961 128.253
Row 14: 27 34 Brett Moffitt # No Escape Ford 14.970 128.176
28 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 15.000 127.920
Row 15: 29 27 Paul Menard Knauf/Menards Chevrolet 15.014 127.801
30 95 Michael McDowell Thrivent Financial Ford 15.037 127.605
Row 16: 31 43 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 15.042 127.563
32 10 Danica Patrick GoDaddy Chevrolet 15.045 127.537
Row 17: 33 35 Cole Whitt Speed Stick Ford 15.054 127.461
34 32 Josh Wise Visone RV Parts Ford 15.065 127.368
Row 18: 35 46 Michael Annett Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet 15.080 127.241
36 7 Alex Bowman Accell Construction Chevrolet 15.084 127.208
Row 19: 37 38 David Gilliland Cash Cash Ford Owner Points
38 23 JJ Yeley(i) VooDoo BBQ & Grill Toyota Owner Points
Row 20: 39 40 Landon Cassill(i) Carsforsale.com Chevrolet Owner Points
40 14 Tony Stewart Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet Owner Points
Row 21: 41 98 Timmy Hill(i) Premium Motorsports Ford Owner Points
42 83 Matt DiBenedetto # Cosmo Motors Toyota Owner Points
Row 22: 43 33 Mike Bliss(i) Chevrolet Owner Points
Did Not Qualify: # 30 Travis Kvapil(i); # 26 Jeb Burton #; # 62 Reed Sorenson.
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 21 2 Toyota 8 1
Ford 14 0
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series