Hamlin to start potential Richmond sweep from pole

Denny Hamlin will begin his potential sweep of the NASCAR Cup Series races at Richmond Raceway from the pole position. Hamlin earned the top spot with a lap of 118.162mph (22.850s). It’s his third pole of the season, fourth at Richmond and the 43rd …

Denny Hamlin will begin his potential sweep of the NASCAR Cup Series races at Richmond Raceway from the pole position.

Hamlin earned the top spot with a lap of 118.162mph (22.850s). It’s his third pole of the season, fourth at Richmond and the 43rd pole of his career.

Martin Truex Jr. will join his teammate on the front row. Truex qualified second at 117.822mph.

Josh Berry qualified third (117.601mph), Chase Elliott, fourth (118.105mph), Christopher Bell, fifth (117.570mph)\, Austin Dillon, sixth (117.770 mph), Chris Buescher, seventh (117.463mph), Bubba Wallace, eighth (117.591mph), Joey Logano, ninth (117.096mph) and Tyler Reddick rounded out the top 10 (117.488mph).

Buescher is the defending race winner of the Cook Out 400.

Ryan Blaney qualified 11th and Kyle Busch qualified 12th. William Byron managed 13th, Ty Gibbs, 14th and Kyle Larson, 15th.

The bubble driver on the Cup Series playoff grid, Ross Chastain, qualified 22nd. Brad Keselowski qualified 29th, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 33rd and Riley Herbst, 34th. Parker Retzlaff qualified last, 37th, for his Cup Series debut.

NEXT: The Cook Out 400 at 6 p.m. ET Sunday (USA).

RESULTS