{"id":47103,"date":"2024-06-29T16:10:06","date_gmt":"2024-06-29T21:10:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=47103"},"modified":"2024-07-01T20:10:14","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T01:10:14","slug":"denny-hamlin-takes-pole-position-at-nashville","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/29\/denny-hamlin-takes-pole-position-at-nashville\/","title":{"rendered":"Denny Hamlin Takes Pole Position at Nashville"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain<\/em><\/p>\n

NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

LEBANON, Tenn. \u2013 Denny Hamlin claimed his second pole position of the season and 42nd of his decorated career Saturday afternoon just bettering his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell to earn the top starting position for Sunday\u2019s Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).<\/p>\n

\"\"

Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Toyota, poses for photos after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on June 29, 2024 in Lebanon, Tennessee. (Photo by James Gilbert\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Hamlin\u2019s No. 11 JGR Toyota turned a fast lap of 160.354 mph (29.859-seconds) around the 1.333-mile oval \u2013 only .095-second fastest than Bell \u2013 to claim his second Nashville pole position in the four races the track has hosted.<\/p>\n

\u201cFelt pretty good about it all day,\u2019\u2019 the 43-year-old Hamlin said, \u201cseems like we definitely have fixed some of the things we weren\u2019t very good with last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely feel pretty good about it and we\u2019ll certainly work on it overnight to make it a little bit better and I feel pretty confident that tomorrow we\u2019ll be in contention,\u201d he added.”<\/p>\n

With a new format to set the starting grid, it puts the pole winner in position one and divides the remaining drivers through first five rows by speed and qualifying group, so Stewart-Haas Racing\u2019s Josh Berry \u2013 who was third quickest \u2013 will start his No. 4 Ford on the outside of the front row Sunday. Bell will start third.<\/p>\n

Hamlin is hoping the good start position will translate into a solid finishing position. The three-race winner this season has finished 24th or worse in the last three races and is ready to get back on track before the summer break in competition in three weeks. Hamlin has a pair of top-10 finishes in the three-race Nashville Superspeedway history, including a best showing of third place last year.<\/p>\n

Bell will start on the second row alongside Hendrick Motorsports\u2019 Kyle Larson, who co-leads the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings with his Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott and was fastest in the Group A first round qualifiers.<\/p>\n

Roush Fenway Keselowski owner\/driver Brad Keselowski will start alongside 23XI Racing\u2019s Tyler Reddick on row three with Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron and Joe Gibbs Racing\u2019s Ty Gibbs on the fourth row and RFK Racing\u2019s Chris Buescher and Team Penske’s Austin Cindric starting their Fords on row five. It\u2019s the best start for Buescher in the last six weeks.<\/p>\n

Defending race winner Ross Chastain will roll off 20th. Elliott will start 13th.<\/p>\n

Gibbs (159.287 mph), Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace and Chastain were fastest in Saturday\u2019s practice session.<\/p>\n

Rivalry? What Rivalry?<\/b><\/p>\n

In the midst of their matching three-win seasons, Hamlin and Larson have raced hard, door-to-door often this season resulting sometimes in hard feelings and damaged race cars. However, the two golfing buddies, have never made it a huge public issue.<\/p>\n

Asked about the style of racing between the pair and if it was actually a true rivalry, Hamlin wouldn\u2019t go that far.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know I just think there\u2019s different [kinds of rivalries] ones for sure,\u2019\u2019 Hamlin said. \u201cI think there are rivalries that come from drivers that probably don\u2019t respect each other. They have a lot of speed, but don\u2019t like each other or deliberately run into each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone\u2019s deliberately running into each other, although it does happen. Certainly I\u2019ve had my fair of mistakes and he\u2019s been on the bad end of those but it\u2019s come from competition, wanting to beat him. He\u2019s one of the guys, one of the best in our sport, if not THE best. So I challenge myself more when I get to race with him and it does happen often and it does happen towards the front more times than not.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know each other’s driving styles and we do things around one another that combat passing each other and that usually means there\u2019s tight quarters conditions.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Chastain Looks To Go Back-To-Back<\/b><\/p>\n

Defending Nashville race winner Ross Chastain likes his chances to become the track\u2019s first repeat winner. The driver of the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet is still racing for his first win of the season, although he is ranked 12th in the current 16-driver Playoff standings based on points.<\/p>\n

The 31-year-old Floridian has seven top-10 finishes and a pair of top-fives this season with 118 laps led and one stage win. Yet his consistency \u2013 an 12th place average finish – has kept him high in the standings and ranked among those with wins already.<\/p>\n

A good showing this weekend is especially important to him and it has been a venue where he has shined. Chastain has never finished worse than fifth in the three Nashville races with a runner-up (2021) and fifth place effort (2022) in addition to his win last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis town means a lot to our team,\u2019\u2019 Chastain said of Nashville, noting that is where Trackhouse Racing team\u2019s executive headquarters is based.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo finish fifth and first with Trackhouse has been great, there\u2019ve been some good parties at Tootsie\u2019s after these races I can tell you,\u2019\u2019 Chastain said with a smile.<\/p>\n

As for securing that first victory of 2024, \u201cJust need a little more speed,\u2019\u2019 he said, adding, \u201cNow the entire sport is trying to do that so it doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re leading, you want to be a half-tenth better or if you\u2019re 30th you want to be that half-tenth better.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, I feel like we\u2019re a really consistent 10th-place car. A good restart, we\u2019ll go to sixth and a bad restart, I go to 14th. So, it\u2019s just a little bit, it\u2019s just crumbs now to get to that top five. And then you see it, with top fives then you win. You put yourself in position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Berry Looking To Build<\/b><\/p>\n

Stewart-Haas Racing\u2019s Josh Berry comes to Nashville after tying his best showing of the season with a third-place finish at New Hampshire last week. The Tennessee-native certainly holds high hopes for Sunday\u2019s NASCAR Cup Series debut at his home-state venue and for his chances to win before the Playoffs start Sept. 8 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.<\/p>\n

The four-car SHR team – as it has operated – announced it would be dissolving at the end of the year and Berry, along with teammates Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece are now left to find work elsewhere. Joe Gibbs Racing announced this week that in 2025, Briscoe will fill the seat in the No. 19 Toyota left by retiring driver Martin Truex Jr. The other drivers, however, are still racing for their futures.<\/p>\n

Berry, in his first full season of NASCAR Cup Series competition, believes he won\u2019t only make the Playoffs based on points, but can win a race. And he was optimistic about being able to stay in NASCAR\u2019s premier series going forward, encouraged by his recent pace \u2013 four top-10 finishes in the last six weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel good about having a spot in the Cup Series next year, I think our results have been really strong the last couple months,\u2019\u2019 said Berry, who has two top-five finishes in three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Nashville. \u201cI don\u2019t really know other than winning a race at this point, is all I can do. We\u2019ve finished in the top five, we\u2019ve led laps, we\u2019ve shown the potential of what we can do.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s been a big confidence boost for me and I really think the whole situation for myself and my team, you really find out a lot about yourself when your back is against the wall and everyone\u2019s performing at a really high level.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re fighting together.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m at my best when my back is against the wall and I have to perform,\u2019\u2019 he added.<\/p>\n

Heat Wave<\/b><\/p>\n

Temperatures in the Nashville area have been in the high 90s this week with \u201cfeels like\u201d marks well above 100 degrees with a heat advisory issued for the region. Drivers and teams concede it\u2019s the hottest NASCAR race weekend so far, but their concerns are as much for the fans in the grandstands as for themselves. The drivers say they try to always be ready for conditions like this.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust a lot of preparation during the week, I\u2019m sure everyone trains a little differently hydrating, training, all the things you think your body needs to do better,\u2019\u2019 Hendrick Motorsports’ driver William Byron said of the weather.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be a true test for all of us. I think the weather backs off a little tomorrow and won\u2019t be as bad as today, but you have to do a good job internally to manage that stress and make sure you\u2019re able to make good decisions through the heat.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain NASCAR Wire Service LEBANON, Tenn. \u2013 Denny Hamlin claimed his second pole position of the season and 42nd of his decorated career Saturday afternoon just bettering his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell to earn the top starting position for Sunday\u2019s Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":47062,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[16,871],"class_list":["post-47103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-nascar","tag-nashville-speedway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/GettyImages-2159847837-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-cfJ","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47103"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47105,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47103\/revisions\/47105"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}