TALLADEGA, Ala. — Denny Hamlin will start on pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Hamlin edged out Stewart-Haas Racing driver Aric Almirola by .032 seconds to earn his first pole of the season in the Geico 500.
Piloting the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry, Hamlin is a fresh off a top-five result last week at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, where he finished fourth.
Hamlin is also a two-time winner at Talladega, with his last one coming in the Fall of 2020.
The 42-year-old described his outlook on Sunday’s race, and what it takes to find success at the superspeedway.
“I struggle because this type of racing does not fit my skill set at superspeedways,” Hamlin remarked. “It’s two-by-two and I want to be the Dale Earnhardt who can go from 18th to first in three laps or whatever it is. With it being such a teammate type of race or manufacturer type race, I’ve always pushed to just let me do my own thing or be on my own, but it’s very hard in this climate and this type of racing for that to be successful.
“You have to have people behind you that you know are committed to going wherever you’re going. At times, if you get told that you have to run with this car or that car, you just put handcuffs on my skillset, but it’s a different type of racing and I have to convert my type of racing into working with teammates and that type of strategy because it’s been what’s most successful.”
JGR had a stellar qualifying session at the 2.66-mile oval, with Hamlin’s teammate Ty Gibbs clocking in third, followed by Christopher Bell and Martin Truex Jr. in sixth and seventh, respectively.
A pair of Ford Mustang’s in Chase Briscoe (fourth) and Ryan Blaney (fifth) followed the front two.
Briscoe, who underwent successful hand surgery on Monday, showed no signs of ailment during the session. The driver of the No. 14 led the way during the first round of time trials.
Defending Cup Series champion Joey Logano qualified eighth, followed by Kyle Larson’s Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in ninth.
After a succesful 10th-place result in his first race back from injury, Chase Elliott qualified 29th. Fellow HMS drivers William Byron (18th) and Alex Bowman (27th) were also mired towards the middle of the pack.