Denny Hamlin celebrated his upcoming 500th start in the Cup series by winning the pole Saturday for Sunday’s Drydene 400 at Dover International Speedway.
Hamlin turned in a fast lap of 166.984 mph for his second pole of the season and the 32nd of his career.
Hamlin, in his 15th Cup season, will become the 43rd driver to start 500 races in the Cup series when he takes the green flag Sunday at the 1-mile oval. Kyle Larson (166.960) will start second.
“I got him (Larson), I’m so happy I beat him,” Hamlin told NBCSN, per NBCSports.com. “To have that lap there, it was a really good lap for us. I knew when I ran it that it was solid.”
Martin Truex Jr. (166.205), who won the Dover race in May and leads the series with six wins, will start third. Kevin Harvick (165.998) and Chase Elliott (165.937) round out the top five. All five drivers are in the playoffs.
The pole was Hamlin’s fourth at Dover, but he has never won there. He did finish second in this race last year and has four top-five finishes at the Monster Mile in 27 starts.
“This is probably as optimistic as I’ve been going into a Dover race because we’ve really dedicated so much time working on my technique around this race track and figuring out what I need to do to be successful. I’m still learning, even for start No. 500,” Hamlin told NBCSN.
Rounding out the top 10 are William Byron (165.738), Aric Almirola (165.670), Erik Jones (165.616), Kurt Busch (165.388) and Ryan Blaney (165.282).
Drydene 400 Starting Lineup
| Start | Driver | Car |
| 1 | Denny Hamlin | 11 |
| 2 | Kyle Larson | 42 |
| 3 | Martin Truex Jr. | 19 |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick | 4 |
| 5 | Chase Elliott | 9 |
| 6 | William Byron | 24 |
| 7 | Aric Almirola | 10 |
| 8 | Erik Jones | 20 |
| 9 | Kurt Busch | 1 |
| 10 | Ryan Blaney | 12 |
| 11 | Jimmie Johnson | 48 |
| 12 | Alex Bowman | 88 |
| 13 | Paul Menard | 21 |
| 14 | Joey Logano | 22 |
| 15 | Daniel Suarez | 41 |
| 16 | Brad Keselowski | 2 |
| 17 | Clint Bowyer | 14 |
| 18 | Kyle Busch | 18 |
| 19 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 17 |
| 20 | Matt DiBenedetto | 95 |
| 21 | David Ragan | 38 |
| 22 | Chris Buescher | 37 |
| 23 | Matt Tifft | 36 |
| 24 | Ryan Newman | 6 |
| 25 | Ty Dillon | 13 |
| 26 | Bubba Wallace | 43 |
| 27 | Austin Dillon | 3 |
| 28 | Michael McDowell | 34 |
| 29 | Corey Lajoie | 32 |
| 30 | Landon Cassill | 00 |
| 31 | Daniel Hemric | 8 |
| 32 | Ryan Preece | 47 |
| 33 | BJ McLeod | 51 |
| 34 | Ross Chastain | 15 |
| 55 | JJ Yeley | 2 |
| 36 | Joe Nemechek | 27 |
| 37 | Garrett Smithley | 54 |
| 38 | Reed Sorenson | 77 |
What time does the Drydene 400 start?
Live coverage for Sunday's Drydene 400 begins at 2:30 p.m. ET.
What channel is the Drydene 400 on?
The Drydene 400 will be televised nationally on NBCSN. The race also can be live-streamed on the NBC Sports App or by subscribing to fuboTV, which offers a seven-day free trial . The radio broadcast can be heard on MRN.