Local legend Denny Hamlin secures top spot at Richmond race

RICHMOND, Va.--Teammates Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. from Joe Gibbs Racing will lead the pack for the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway on Sunday night (6 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Hamlin, 43, secured his third Busch Light pole position of the season with a fast lap of 118.162 mph in the No. 11 JGR Toyota. This is his fourth career pole position at the three-quarter mile track and the 54th of his career. As a Richmond native, Hamlin is the hometown favorite for this weekend's race.

After the session, Hamlin expressed his surprise at his team's performance, stating, "we were the slowest car in the first round, but the team made great adjustments and that's the bottom line to it."

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Truex, a three-time Richmond winner, will start in the front row for the first time this season. He is still searching for his first win of the year and currently ranks 12th in the Playoff standings.

Stewart-Haas Racing's Josh Berry and Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott will start from the second row, followed by JGR's Christopher Bell and Richard Childress Racing's Austin Dillon, who is making only his second top 10 start of the season.

Defending race winner, RFK Racing's Chris Buescher qualified seventh and will start alongside 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace. Penske Racing's Joey Logano and 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick rounded out the top 10 in the final qualifying session.

Current NASCAR Cup Series championship leader, Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson will start 15th, while the track's winningest active driver Kyle Busch (six wins) will start 12th.

Hamlin, who has five wins at Richmond, expressed his excitement about returning to the track where he grew up, saying, "I love winning here and to have five (wins) is certainly exciting and I feel like they have each been a little different. It feels good to come here and still be able to perform 20 years later."

Before qualifying, teams had a 45-minute practice session to test out the special "option tire" that NASCAR has made available for this race. Goodyear's "prime" tires are a harder rubber compound with less grip but will last longer, while the new "option" tire has a softer rubber compound offering more grip and speed but will not last as long.

Goodyear's Director of Racing Greg Stucker commented on the performance of both tires, stating, "I think both the option and primary tire behaved about as we expected. So far in the conditions we have now, we like what we see."

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Hamlin also shared his thoughts on the option tire, saying, "I understand why we're doing it and I think it was a good idea."

--By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.