By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

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 (Va.) Raceway (6 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Rewards Toyota, poses for photos after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway on August 10, 2024 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

The fast lap of 118.162 mph in the No. 11 JGR Toyota landed Hamlin, 43, his third Busch Light pole position of the season. It’s his fourth career pole position at the three-quarter mile 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.

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.

Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Rewards Toyota, and Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, drive during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway on August 10, 2024 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

“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 12th in the Playoff standings 108-points up on the field with the top-16 drivers advancing to the 10-race championship.

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. Penske Racing’s Joey Logano and 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick rounded out the top-10 who advanced to the final qualifying session.

Current NASCAR 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.

“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.

RICHMOND NOTES

*23XI Racing’s Reddick, who got married during the recent two-week break, comes into Richmond still very much in the hunt for the NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship – only 15 points behind leader Larson and five points behind second place Elliott. He said he was “completely unplugged” from racing during the recent down time.

“For us, I wasn’t really necessarily worried about it,’’ Reddick said of Richmond. “We were coming back to a track where when things are right and we’re not having issues with the car we run top five. I’m just really thankful for that kind of team that really helps me to kind of step away from it and not feel like we’re going to be behind when we get back to the race track.”

Reddick, who only earned his first top-10 (10th place) in eight Richmond starts in March, added, “I feel like the amount of speed that we’ve been able to take to these short tracks and still be lacking little things like the balance not being right and having other issues with the car and still getting the finishes that we are and having the speed that we do, makes me remain hopeful that when we do get it right that we’ll be right where we belong.’’

He won pole position and led 81 laps (his only laps led at the track) in this Fall race last year.

*This next four-race run to close out the regular season is especially crucial for Reddick’s 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace and Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain. Wallace is the first driver outside the Playoff cut-off line, ranked 17th but only seven points behind Chastain.

The Richmond three-quarter miler hasn’t necessarily been a shining star on either of the drivers resume. Chastain has a pair of top-10 finishes in 11 starts with a best showing of third place (2023). Wallace has 12 Richmond starts but has never had a top-10. His best showing of 12th place came in this race last year.

Both drivers are optimistic and focused on their Playoff hopes for the next month with races at a variety of tracks including the Richmond short track, Michigan two-miler, Daytona Beach superspeedway and Darlington, S.C., a 1.366-miler.

“Definitely don’t feel safe until you’re locked in,’’ said Wallace who was more than 100 points out of 16th place just a handful of races ago. “We have four very good opportunities to do that. Ran really well here in the spring. … four real good opportunities to make some headway but you know, also four good opportunities to take us out contention so have to show up and it’s time to put it back into gear.’’

Chastain has qualified for the Playoffs the last two seasons, finishing runner-up to champion Joey Logano in 2022 and ninth last year. 

“Approach for me is a constant evolution,’’ explained Chastain, who said he enjoyed the previous two weeks off not thinking about racing. “Really no two weeks are ever the same. If I find something that’s going to help me better physically, then I do it. My weeks and my preparation are really never the same.

“We can’t try any harder now than we did before the break,’’ he added.

*Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch is wearing an ace bandage-style wrap on his left wrist – nursing a sore wrist that he injured in an accident during the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway three weeks ago.

Although he said it was not broken and there hadn’t been any issues steering the car so far during practice and qualifying at Richmond, Busch conceded, “Without two weeks off, I would not have been able to race. I’m good.’’

Busch said there would not be a stand-by driver in the pits to relieve him at Richmond should the injury become too painful to drive.

“Grip it and rip it,’’ he said with a smile.

*Trackhouse Racing announced this week that it has extended driver Daniel Suarez’ contract through the 2025 season. Suarez, 32, of Monterrey, Mexico, is a former NASCAR Xfinity Series champion and a two-race winner in the NASCAR Cup Series. His victory at Atlanta in March has qualified him for the 2024 Playoffs. As part of the announcement, sponsor Freeway Insurance confirmed it will be back on Suarez’ No. 99 Chevrolet for a third of the races next season.

It’s been a big week for Suarez who married Julia Piquet during the recent NASCAR race break.

*Toyota Racing Development President David Wilson spoke to the media Saturday regarding his announcement this week that he will be retiring from his position at the end of the season and turning over duties to longtime TRD executive Tyler Gibbs (no relation to the Joe Gibbs family).

“I’m at peace, my heart is full,’’ said Wilson, who has been part of the manufacturer’s motorsports presence for 35 years including Toyota’s first Daytona 500 victory and first NASCAR Cup Series championship.

“Many of my close friends have heard me, more recently, talk about what fuels my soul and what I will be most grateful for and you’re not gonna find it in a box score. Your going to find it in the hearts of these people and the relationships and the love and the trust that have developed,’’ Wilson added, looking around Richmond media center at all the Toyota team owners and drivers who attended the press conference out of respect for their longtime leader.

It’s pretty simple, I’d like to believe that TRD is better than when it was when I got here and that Toyota’s position in this sport has left NASCAR in a better place,’’ Wilson said of what he considers his most important legacy.