Bristol Motor Speedway is one of NASCAR’s most unpredictable tracks. It’s also where Denny Hamlin hopes to make up for a rather inconsistent start to 2014.
NASCAR Bristol 2014: Lineup, starting grid for Food City 500
Denny Hamlin will start from the front row on Sunday.
Jared C. Tilton
NASCAR power rankings
Winning may trump all, but consistency still has a place in this week’s NASCAR power rankings. Hamlin will start from the pole in the Food City 500 on Sunday after unseating Team Penske after Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski had swept the front row in the previous two races. Hamlin’s season has taken a few steps back since his strong first week in Daytona. He finished 19th on the flat course in Phoenix and had to fight his way from the back of the pack in Las Vegas to salvage a 12th place finish last weekend.
As a result, Hamlin finds himself sitting squarely in ninth in the standings. He could make his way back up with a strong effort from the front row on Sunday, but he’ll have to fend off the speedy Matt Kenseth and Keselowski to do it.
Whether the race even begins on Sunday is in question, as rain is in the forecast all afternoon at Bristol. When the Food City 500 does get underway, the lineup will look like this:
| Row | Inside | Outside |
| 1 | Denny Hamlin | Brad Keselowski |
| 2 | Matt Kenseth | Joey Logano |
| 3 | Marcos Ambrose | Jeff Gordon |
| 4 | Kyle Busch | Greg Biffle |
| 5 | Ryan Newman | Kasey Kahne |
| 6 | Jimmie Johnson | Carl Edwards |
| 7 | Kurt Busch | Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
| 8 | Clint Bowyer | David Gilliland |
| 9 | Jamie McMurray | Cole Whitt |
| 10 | David Ragan | Kyle Larson |
| 11 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | A.J. Allmendinger |
| 12 | Aric Almirola | Michael McDowell |
| 13 | Casey Mears | Austin Dillon |
| 14 | Kevin Harvick | Paul Menard |
| 15 | Martin Truex Jr. | Justin Allgaier |
| 16 | Landon Cassill | Josh Wise |
| 17 | Alex Bowman | Michael Annett |
| 18 | Reed Sorenson | Danica Patrick |
| 19 | Tony Stewart | Brian Vickers |
| 20 | Travis Kvapil | Ryan Truex |
| 21 | Parker Kligerman | Joe Nemechek |
| 22 | Timmy Hill |
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