When the green flag drops at the Pocono 400 on Sunday, Denny Hamlin will likely be hoping history repeats itself. Prior to this week, Hamlin had won the pole twice at Pocono and went on to win the race both times. He once again claimed the pole -- setting a track record during qualifying -- and will attempt to make it three-for-three.
NASCAR at Pocono Raceway 2014: Lineup, starting grid for Pocono 400
Denny Hamlin will start in front at Pocono after winning his third pole on the track.
Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports
Early in his career, Pocono was a great track for Hamlin as he notched four wins. He’s had less success at the track recently following the repave in 2011. Hamlin seems to have once again solved the 2.5-mile track, running very well during qualifying. He’ll start on the front row with Kurt Busch, who was the fastest during the second round of qualifying. Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon round out the front five.
Sprint Cup leader Jimmie Johnson is coming off back-to-back wins, and ran extremely well at Pocono last year. If he’s going to make it three straight wins, however, he’s going to have to make up ground. Johnson -- who cited his own mistakes -- struggled in qualifying and failed to advance to the second round of qualifying. As a result, he’ll start the race in 20th position.
Here is a complete look at the starting lineup:
| Position | Driver | Make | Speed |
| 1 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 181.415 |
| 2 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 181.408 |
| 3 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 181.316 |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 180.832 |
| 5 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | 180.513 |
| 6 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 180.458 |
| 7 | Joey Logano | Ford | 179.827 |
| 8 | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | Chevrolet | 179.565 |
| 9 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | 179.548 |
| 10 | Carl Edwards | Ford | 179.383 |
| 11 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 179.326 |
| 12 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | 179.126 |
| 13 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 179.258 |
| 14 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 179.229 |
| 15 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 179.072 |
| 16 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | 179.051 |
| 17 | Martin Truex, Jr. | Chevrolet | 178.976 |
| 18 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 178.919 |
| 19 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 178.777 |
| 20 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 178.678 |
| 21 | A.J. Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 178.288 |
| 22 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 178.144 |
| 23 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 178.031 |
| 24 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | 177.288 |
| 25 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | 178.045 |
| 26 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 177.968 |
| 27 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 177.908 |
| 28 | Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. | Ford | 177.83 |
| 29 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | 177.162 |
| 30 | Michael Annett | Chevrolet | 176.308 |
| 31 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 176.025 |
| 32 | David Ragan | Ford | 175.922 |
| 33 | Travis Kvapil | Ford | 175.867 |
| 34 | Alex Bowman | Toyota | 175.675 |
| 35 | David Gilliland | Ford | 175.613 |
| 36 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 174.958 |
| 37 | Josh Wise | Ford | 174.747 |
| 38 | J.J. Yeley | Chevrolet | 173.97 |
| 39 | Timmy Hill | Toyota | 173.26 |
| 40 | Cole Whitt | Toyota | 172.808 |
| 41 | Ryan Truex | Toyota | 172.453 |
| 42 | Alex Kennedy | Chevrolet | 169.693 |
| 43 | Dave Blaney | Ford | No Time |
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