Denny Hamlin will start the second round of the Monster Energy Cup Series playoffs on the pole after topping qualifying Friday night for the Bank of America 500 Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
NASCAR Charlotte 2017 qualifying results: Denny Hamlin wins pole for Bank of America 500
Denny Hamlin earned his first pole of the season, with teammate Matt Kenseth qualifying second for Sunday’s playoff race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Hamlin’s 191.598 mph lap bested Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Matt Kenseth 191.489 mph in knockout qualifying to win his first pole of the season and 25th of his career. He extended his streak of having at least one pole in each of the past six seasons.
“You always like keeping streaks alive. I hadn’t had a pole this year and had one every other year, but we’ve been so close,” Hamlin said. “We’ve made a lot of final rounds, been in the top-five but not as fast as our other teammates.”
Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer completed the top five. Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Larson rounded out the top 10.
Charlotte is the first of three races in the second playoff round. A win Sunday by one of the 12 title-eligible drivers automatically advances them to the semi-final round.
Playoff challenger Kyle Busch, who won the past two postseason races, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. each needed multiple attempts clearing technical inspection and narrowly passed, just getting onto the track before the session had expired. Rookie Erik Jones of Furniture Row Racing did not pass and failed to turn a qualifying lap. All three face the loss of practice time on Saturday.
Busch and Earnhardt were involved in incidents earlier in Friday’s lone practice session. Busch slapped the wall off Turn 4, where earlier Earnhardt had pancaked the wall. Busch’s team was able to repair his Toyota, while Hendrick Motorsports pulled out a backup car for Earnhardt.
Earnhardt’s qualifying lap in the waning seconds bumped teammate Jimmie Johnson out of the final transfer spot. Johnson, the defending Cup Series champion and race winner, will start 25th on Sunday -- the lowest of the 12 playoff-eligible drivers. Earnhardt qualified 23rd.
“Multiple trips through the inspection line doesn’t help by any stretch and we just missed it. So, another frustrating Friday, unfortunately,” Johnson said. “We’ll be back tomorrow and we’ll have to pass a bunch of cars on Sunday. It sucks starting the weekend behind like this, but it is what it is and we’re just going to have to go to work on Sunday.”
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