MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) — With his career-best sixth pole position this season, Denny Hamlin made NASCAR history while trying to put the brakes on Kyle Larson’s potentially historic run in the Chase.
Hamlin, who will turn 46 on Nov. 18, became the oldest pole sitter in 156 Cup Series races at Martinsville Speedway, turning a 98.492-mph lap on the 0.526-mile oval to beat Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs (98.241).
“That’s awesome,” said Hamlin, who is
5 months older than Morgan Shepherd was when he won the April 1987 pole. “There’s times I feel like Father Time’s catching up. If that’s true, then you wouldn’t have been able to sit on six poles. It’s what drives me that I’ve got a shot and still am decent enough. So I’d love to keep setting those old man records.”
Larson qualified third at 98.114 mph and reiterated that he isn’t expecting to become the first Chase driver to clinch the championship ahead of the season finale. He has a 73-point lead on Hamlin with Martinsville and the Nov. 8 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway remaining.
“I think everybody else is convinced that we’re going to lock it up here this weekend,” said Larson, who noted that Hamlin would have gained a maximum 76 points at Martinsville if he had finished one spot better in the March 29 race that was won by Chase Elliott. “Denny’s really good here. I’m more just kind of looking at it like how to keep it up front to leave myself a buffer for next week. We’ll see how the race plays out, but that’s kind of my mindset. Denny’s definitely a much better short track racer than me.”
Five of Hamlin’s series-high six wins at Martinsville have been from the pole position.
“Our job is to stay out in front of (Larson) and then just make them think and just maybe this trickles down to a reasonable number,” he said. “You need to gain 25, 30 points probably to even have a remote feeling of optimism, and even that is probably a stretch."
Teammates Christopher Bell (qualified 14th) and Chase Briscoe (11th) will start behind Larson as the next two drivers after Hamlin in the Chase standings.
Austin Cindric qualified fourth ahead of Penske teammate Joey Logano, who is seeking to become the first driver since Rusty Wallace in 1993 to win three consecutive Cup races on short tracks.
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