Ever since Denny Hamlin has returned to action after a lower back injury earlier this year he’s been on a mission.
A four-race hiatus, due to that injury, means that it is an intense mission.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver needs victories to secure a wild card entry into NASCAR Sprint Cup’s Chase for the Cup title.
For the second week in-a-row he’s won the pole position. This time it was one-mile Dover International Speedway. He also won the pole at the fall race in Dover.
Hamlin turned a lap of 157.978 mph Friday, in a Toyota, to win the pole at a track also known as the Monster Mile.
"I feel like we're hitting our stride," Hamlin said. "We're running really well at different types of race tracks. Overall, I'm pretty happy. We still need to get those race wins."
Toyota drivers dominated the first two rows with Martin Truex, Jr. starting second at the site of his only Sprint Cup victory.
Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth, Hamlin’s teammates, will start third and fourth, respectively.
Even his teammates were a bit surprised at the back-to-back poles. "I don't know why Denny has to come back and show off all the time right away," quipped Kenseth ironically.
Series points leader and five-time champion, Jimmie Johnson, qualified 24th.
In order to make the Chase with a Wild Card Hamlin needs to finish 20th in the points or in the top ten overall. And, at the moment, he is 97 points shy of that top-ten.
"We've been qualifying pretty good, which has really helped out our cause with our race finishes," Hamlin said.
Dover is what Truex considers a home track therefore he would dearly like to double his win total and end a six-year victory drought. "You always want to come here and get the pole," Truex said. "I love this place so much and have so many fans in this area."
But the pole winner feels like he must win on Sunday.
"I think our only play is to be aggressive," Hamlin said. "I think that to come here and try to get a good points day is irrelevant because if we don't win, then we're not really accomplishing much."
A four-race hiatus, due to that injury, means that it is an intense mission.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver needs victories to secure a wild card entry into NASCAR Sprint Cup’s Chase for the Cup title.
For the second week in-a-row he’s won the pole position. This time it was one-mile Dover International Speedway. He also won the pole at the fall race in Dover.
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| Photo: Denny Hamlin |
Hamlin turned a lap of 157.978 mph Friday, in a Toyota, to win the pole at a track also known as the Monster Mile.
"I feel like we're hitting our stride," Hamlin said. "We're running really well at different types of race tracks. Overall, I'm pretty happy. We still need to get those race wins."
Toyota drivers dominated the first two rows with Martin Truex, Jr. starting second at the site of his only Sprint Cup victory.
Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth, Hamlin’s teammates, will start third and fourth, respectively.
Even his teammates were a bit surprised at the back-to-back poles. "I don't know why Denny has to come back and show off all the time right away," quipped Kenseth ironically.
Series points leader and five-time champion, Jimmie Johnson, qualified 24th.
In order to make the Chase with a Wild Card Hamlin needs to finish 20th in the points or in the top ten overall. And, at the moment, he is 97 points shy of that top-ten.
"We've been qualifying pretty good, which has really helped out our cause with our race finishes," Hamlin said.
Dover is what Truex considers a home track therefore he would dearly like to double his win total and end a six-year victory drought. "You always want to come here and get the pole," Truex said. "I love this place so much and have so many fans in this area."
But the pole winner feels like he must win on Sunday.
"I think our only play is to be aggressive," Hamlin said. "I think that to come here and try to get a good points day is irrelevant because if we don't win, then we're not really accomplishing much."