DOVER, Del. (AP) — Denny Hamlin overcame a spin on his warmup lap Saturday to win the pole position for the NASCARAll-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver looped his No. 11 Toyota shortly after pulling onto the banking on the 1-mile oval, but he recovered for a two-lap time of 1 minute, 49.298 seconds that included a four-tire pit stop.
“I was just trying to get as much heat in the tires as I possibly could,” Hamlin said. “I was just trying to feel it out, and it was slick. I just didn’t want to flat-spot (the tires). The lap was still competitive even though we didn’t do a great job on the warmup. Hats off to the team because they’re the ones that keep you in the game because it’s all about the pit stop.”
Brad Keselowski qualified second, followed by Erik Jones, Ross Chastain and William Byron at the concrete track known as the “Monster Mile,” which will become the sixth oval to play host to the All-Star Race.
Hamlin was among several drivers who had trouble on their qualifying laps. Connor Zilisch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. also spun, and there were 10-second speeding penalties for Zane Smith, Michael McDowell and Kyle Larson. Daniel Suarez’s No. 7 Chevrolet smacked the wall when his right-front tire popped off after the checkered flag.
Hamlin, the 35th of 36 drivers making a qualifying attempt, said he was trying to be mindful of the earlier issues when he lost control. It’s his second pole position in the All-Star Race, which he won in 2015 after starting first.
Sunday’s event will feature two 75-lap stages before concluding with a 200-lap segment featuring 26 cars.
“(Qualifying) is not my forte,” Hamlin said. “I liked our car. It felt like we were pretty strong. If we can do well in the first segment in traffic where we excel, it could be a good weekend.”
Though Smith qualified 25th, his No. 38 Ford team was awarded the first pit stall selection and a $100,00 bonus because its crew set the fastest time (12.612 seconds) on the four-tire stop.