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RICHMOND, Va. — Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. will lead the field to the green flag for Sunday night‘s NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway (6 p.m. ET, USA, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
The fast lap of 118.162 mph in the No. 11 JGR Toyota landed Hamlin, 43, his third Busch Light Pole Award of the 2024 season. It‘s his fourth career pole position at the 0.75-mile Virginia short track for Hamlin, who grew up in the Richmond area and is the hometown favorite this weekend. It is the 54th career pole position for the five-time Richmond winner.
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Asked after the session about his work, Hamlin grinned and noted, “We were the slowest car in the first round, but the team made great adjustments and that‘s the bottom line to it.
“Was I surprised it held up? Yes, I was,” Hamlin said of being the first to turn in a lap in the final session.
“He [crew chief Chris Gabehart] told me if we backed up my [first round] time we‘d have a shot at it. Certainly a great job by this whole FedEx Camry team. Certainly unexpected given the practice and first-round qualifying we had.
“We just made the correct adjustments that we‘re going to have to make in the race as well. I think we‘re headed in the right direction.”
It is the first front-row start of the season for Truex, a three-time Richmond winner who is still racing for his first trophy of the year. He‘s ranked 13th in the playoff standings, 108 points up on the field with the top-16 drivers advancing to the 10-race championship battle.
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Stewart-Haas Racing‘s Josh Berry and Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott will start from the second row, followed by JGR‘s Christopher Bell and Richard Childress Racing‘s Austin Dillon, who is making only his second top-10 start of the season.
Defending race winner, RFK Racing‘s Chris Buescher qualified seventh and will start alongside 23XI Racing‘s Bubba Wallace. Team Penske‘s Joey Logano and 23XI Racing‘s Tyler Reddick rounded out the top 10 who advanced to the final qualifying session.
Current Cup Series championship leader, Hendrick Motorsports‘ Kyle Larson will start 15th. The track‘s winningest active driver Kyle Busch (six wins) will roll off 12th.
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“I love winning here and to have five [wins] is certainly exciting and I feel like they have each been a little different,‘‘ Hamlin said, adding, “It feels good to come here and still be able to perform 20 years later.‘‘
A 45-minute practice session before qualifying allowed teams to try out the special “option tire” that NASCAR has made available this week. Teams have been given six sets of “prime tires” and two sets of “option tires” for use during the race.
Goodyear‘s “prime” tires are a harder rubber compound with typically less grip but will last longer. The new “option” tire has a softer rubber compound offering more grip and speed but will not last as long.
“I think both the option and primary tire behaved about as we expected,‘‘ said Goodyear‘s Director of Racing Greg Stucker, adding, “So far in the conditions we have now, we like what we see.‘‘
The drivers were also complimentary.
“I understand why we‘re doing it and I think it was a good idea,‘‘ Hamlin said of the option tire.
Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon topped the leaderboard at 118.953 mph in the 45-minute practice session. Bubba Wallace (118.859 mph), Christopher Bell (118.760 mph), Martin Truex Jr. (118.707 mph) and Zane Smith (118.702 mph) rounded out the top five.
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Carson Hocevar (118.530 mph), Chris Buescher (118.457 mph), Michael McDowell (118.229 mph), Daniel Suárez (118.203 mph) and Ty Gibbs (118.043 mph) completed the top 10.
Contributing: Staff reports
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