Denny Hamlin has two victories at the Darlington Raceway but before today, he has never secured a pole in the Cup Series at Darlington. On Saturday, Hamlin turned the fastest lap during the final round to put his No. 11 on the front row. Kyle Larson cut it close to earning his fourth pole of the season but came up short putting his No. 42 in second.
Martin Truex Jr. will start from the third position while Alex Bowman and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five.
Ryan Newman, who was first in final practice, qualified in sixth while Erik Jones, Joey Logano, Kurt Busch, William Byron, Chase Elliott, and Aric Almirola rounded out the top 12 during the final round of qualifying.
Brad Keselowski was knocked out of the final round of qualifying with very little time remaining on the clock. Joining Keselowski as notables outside the 12 include Daniel Suarez, Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Blaney, and Kevin Harvick.
The Bojangles Southern 500 will go live on NBCSN at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday evening.
About the author
His favorite tracks on the circuit include Barber Motorsports Park, Iowa Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville, and Bristol Motor Speedway.
During the season, Christian also spends time as a photographer with multiple other outlets shooting Monster Energy AMA Supercross, Minor League & Major League Baseball, and NCAA Football.
A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.