Nascar – New pole for Denny Hamlin in Bristol

Denny Hamlin will start on pole for tonight's Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver won qualifying for the fourth time this year after posting a lap time of 14 seconds, relegating the Chevrolet of Kurt Busch (Furniture Row Racing) to 878 thousandths. Carl Edwards (Roush Fenway Racing) will share the second row of the grid with Brian Vickers (Michael Waltrip Racing), while Matt Kenseth (Joe Gibbs Racing) completes the top five ahead of Joey Logano (Penske Racing), Kasey Kahne, first driver of Hendrick Motorsports and last winner on this oval, Ryan Newman (Stewart-Haas Racing), Martin Truex Jr (Michael Waltrip Racing) and Aric Almirola (Richard Petty Motorsports).

Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports) took 13th position on the grid behind Brad Keselowski (Penske Racing). The reigning champion will start behind Mark Martin who replaces Tony Stewart for the first time in the No. 14 Chevrolet. Danica Patrick (Stewart-Haas Racing) will start from 22nd position. Conversely, Kyle Busch (Joe Gibbs Racing) spun during qualifying and will start from the last row after leading the last practice session. Mike Bliss (Humphrey Racing) was the only driver to fail to qualify.