NASCAR starting lineup at Dover: Denny Hamlin wins pole, field set for Dydene 400

Bill Marx

NASCAR starting lineup at Dover: Denny Hamlin wins pole, field set for Dydene 400 image

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.

Bill Marx