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Denny Hamlin, NASCAR's virtually forgotten man, won the pole at Bristol Motor Speedway seemingly the best news he's had in quite a while.
Driving a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Hamlin turned a lap of 128.969 mph around the .533 mile concrete paved oval. It was his fourth pole of the year 16th in his career.
Hamlin's looking for any bright news in a season that virtually started with missing four races due to a fractured vertebra in California the second race of the season.
To add insult to injury the Virginia-born driver who had been a major contender is mired in a nine-race slump where the best he could finish was a not-very competitive 18th.
"It's by far the worst run, these nine races, in my career," he said.
"A lot of it is our own doing. We got off track for a couple races because we've blown right front tires in consecutive weeks and we started changing our setups and we couldn't find anything that was very good with that. That burnt another three, four weeks. We've had horsepower cut back. But we're headed in the right direction.”
He's looking to parlay the pole back into Victory Lane with a take-no-prisoners outlook.
"I'll be as aggressive as I possibly can to get a win -- there's nothing really that I won't do.”
Kurt Busch, who's trying to revive his entire career, the subject of rumours of an offer Stewart-Haas Racing drive next year was second-fastest at 128.770mph in a Chevrolet. The 2004 Sprint Cup Champion, who left Penske Racing two years ago, finds himself the flavor of the week as a potential move up to a more powerful team than the one-car Furniture Row Racing.
"The guys (his current pit crew) know that this is the time now, and they are all shaking my hand saying 'Thanks' and they are also saying 'Let's do this again next year,'" Busch said.
"I'm like, 'Heck, yeah. I'm right there with you.' We have to stay focused on the present as well as balance the future, and it's a tough thing to do. You hope you can do it behind the scenes and it's not out in the public. But today was a great reminder of how hard you have to work in this sport."
“Concrete” Carl Edwards was third quick in a Ford while Toyota drivers Brian Vickers and Matt Kenseth as Toyota took three of the top five spots. Mark Martin, who starts 11th is filling in for the recovering Tony Stewart this week.
Driving a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Hamlin turned a lap of 128.969 mph around the .533 mile concrete paved oval. It was his fourth pole of the year 16th in his career.
Hamlin's looking for any bright news in a season that virtually started with missing four races due to a fractured vertebra in California the second race of the season.
To add insult to injury the Virginia-born driver who had been a major contender is mired in a nine-race slump where the best he could finish was a not-very competitive 18th.
"It's by far the worst run, these nine races, in my career," he said.
"A lot of it is our own doing. We got off track for a couple races because we've blown right front tires in consecutive weeks and we started changing our setups and we couldn't find anything that was very good with that. That burnt another three, four weeks. We've had horsepower cut back. But we're headed in the right direction.”
He's looking to parlay the pole back into Victory Lane with a take-no-prisoners outlook.
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| Denny Hamlin (Photo: Joe Gibbs Racing) |
"I'll be as aggressive as I possibly can to get a win -- there's nothing really that I won't do.”
Kurt Busch, who's trying to revive his entire career, the subject of rumours of an offer Stewart-Haas Racing drive next year was second-fastest at 128.770mph in a Chevrolet. The 2004 Sprint Cup Champion, who left Penske Racing two years ago, finds himself the flavor of the week as a potential move up to a more powerful team than the one-car Furniture Row Racing.
"The guys (his current pit crew) know that this is the time now, and they are all shaking my hand saying 'Thanks' and they are also saying 'Let's do this again next year,'" Busch said.
"I'm like, 'Heck, yeah. I'm right there with you.' We have to stay focused on the present as well as balance the future, and it's a tough thing to do. You hope you can do it behind the scenes and it's not out in the public. But today was a great reminder of how hard you have to work in this sport."
“Concrete” Carl Edwards was third quick in a Ford while Toyota drivers Brian Vickers and Matt Kenseth as Toyota took three of the top five spots. Mark Martin, who starts 11th is filling in for the recovering Tony Stewart this week.