NASCAR All-Star Race 2015 qualifying results: Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle set the pace

Denny Hamln and his pit crew had the best showing in qualifying Saturday night at the 2015 NASCAR All-Star Race. Hamlin had the best speed of any lap by any of the 20 drivers at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and his pit crew had the fastest four-tire change as well. That gave a time of 1:51.227, or a speed of 145.648 mph, more than seven-tenths of a second and 1 mph faster than Greg Biffle.

Biffle did a nice job as well, especially given he had no chance to practice driving down pit row at 150 mph like the 17 drivers who had already qualified for the All-Star Race.

Both the driver and the pit crew got involved in the qualifying competition. Drivers took three laps around loop, then were forced to pit for a four-tire change. No speed limit applied on pit row for qualifying. That could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on the driver. While it rewarded speed and accuracy, some drivers, such as Kyle Busch, drove right through their pit box and had to back up. One final lap was taken by each car following the stop to determine the final qualifying time.

Biffle, Clint Bowyer and Danica Patrick did not even know whether they’d be part of the competition when the other teams practiced on Friday afternoon. Drivers could qualify by winning a race in either 2014 or 2015, by having won the All-Star Race in the past, by being defending Sprint Cup champions, by winning either of the two segments of the Sprint Showdown or by being voted in by the fans. Biffle and Bowyer earned victories in the Showdown, while Patrick received a pass via the fan vote.

Patrick qualified sixth, but she’ll have to start at the back of the pack due to changing the engine in the No. 10 car Friday night. Bowyer qualified fourth, so he’ll start on the second row. Kyle Busch, who has not raced since a frightening crash the day before the Daytona 500, had the fastest time in practice but blew by his pit box in qualifying. That mistake meant he had the 19th-best time and will start on the 10th row alongside defending Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick. In his final season, Jeff Gordon posted the ninth-best qualifying and will start on the fifth row.

The All-Star Race is comprised of four 25-lap segments and one 10-lap segment. Average finishing order during the 25-lap segments sets the order that cars enter pit row during a competition yellow after the 100th lap. Whatever order they leave pit row after a required four-tire stop sets the running order for the 10-lap sprint to a $1 million check at the finish.

The green flag is set to fly at 9:16 p.m. ET. The race can be viewed on Fox Sports 1.

TV coverage: 8:30 p.m. (ET)

Green flag: 9:16 p.m.

TV: Fox Sports 1

Streaming: Fox Sports Go