NASCAR Homestead 2015 qualifying results: Denny Hamlin wins pole, Kyle Busch best among title contenders

Kyle Busch didn’t take the No. 1 starting spot in qualifying Friday, but his third-place effort was tops among the four drivers who will race for the championship Sunday at Homestead-Miami.

Whoever finishes highest among Busch, Jeff Gordon, Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick will capture the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Gordon rallied to qualify fifth after barely advancing out of the first of three rounds, while Truex starts 11th and Harvick 13th.

The pole went to Denny Hamlin (176.655 mph), Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate.

Hamlin joked he was “Mr. Irreverent” after earning his third pole of the season and in a way that assessment wasn’t far off. Not only is Sunday the championship finale, but also the last career race for Gordon, the four-time champion who is retiring following the Ford EcoBoost 400.

“Definitely our goal is to have a championship for JGR and Kyle this weekend, so we’ll do everything we can,” Hamlin said. “We obviously want to win the race so a perfect day would be us winning and him finishing second.”

For much of the first round it looked as if Gordon would start his final race near the back, before a spirited second attempt in the final minute pushed him from 25th to 18th, six spots above the transfer line. But as Gordon’s performance gradually improved, Harvick’s regressed. After posting the fastest time in the first session, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver couldn’t find the same speed in Round 2, making him the only title contender not to advance.

“Right now, I’m not even thinking and fathoming that,” Gordon said of his pending retirement. “I’m just really happy about how we qualified, so I’m hoping that we can take that fast race car and do some more with it (Saturday) and Sunday.”

Harvick was not bothered by the result, noting Homestead is a multi-groove track that provides ample opportunity to pass. And the last time he didn’t qualify 12th or better was the first-round playoff elimination race at Dover, which he won by leading 355 of 400 laps.

“Round 1 was really good for us, and then we went to round 2 and just really, really tight in the next two runs that we made,” Harvick said

“It’s really no different than any other week,” Harvick said. “I mean, we’ve not qualified as well this year as we had last year, especially on some of these types of racetracks.”

Jeb Burton and Reed Sorenson failed to qualify.

Ford EcoBoost 400 starting lineup