Denny Hamlin ended two weeks of Team Penske dominance by winning the pole at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Racing teammate Kyle Busch a year ago, and ensured that neither Brad Keselowski or Joey Logano won the pole for the first time since NASCAR's new knockout qualifying debuted three weeks ago.
Hamlin only ran one lap in the first segment and it was good enough to lock him into the top 12 to advance into the second segment. He then ran one lap, took the pole for Sunday's race, and got out of his car to see if anyone could beat him.
“As a short track guy, I can feel when, 'OK, this is all I've got.' Or, 'This is a really good lap,”' Hamlin said. He aborted an attempt at a second lap in the first segment because, “If that wasn't a top-12 lap, we were in big trouble. So I knew that was going to be good. Then ultimately strategy comes into play, wanting to conserve your car and keeping everything as cool as you can for the second segment.
So good that he wasn't very worried when Keselowski and Logano both pulled back onto the track as the clock ticked down to attempt to bump Hamlin from the pole. The teammates swept the front row at Phoenix and Las Vegas, where the new format was first used this season, and they made one last run at Hamlin.
Logano was fourth, behind Hamlin's teammate Matt Kenseth.
The Penske drivers only were able to make those final attempts because of a new rule this week by NASCAR that permitted the use of cooling units on pit road for teams to cool their engines following their runs.
NASCAR decided Tuesday to allow the devices following a conference call with crew chiefs.
The early season struggles continued for Stewart-Haas Racing.
Kurt Busch was the top SHR qualifier at 13th, but Kevin Harvick was 27th and Danica Patrick was the last driver to qualify on speed at 36th.
Team co-owner Tony Stewart had to use a provisional to make it in the field and will start 37th.
1. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 129.991 mph.
2. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 129.965.
3. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 129.073.
4. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 128.83.
5. (9) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 128.727.
6. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 128.245.
7. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 128.159.
8. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 127.946.
9. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 127.801.
10. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 127.69.
11. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 127.385.
12. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 127.073.
13. (41) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 128.322.
14. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 128.271.
15. (15) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 128.245.
16. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, 128.236.
17. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 128.168.
18. (26) Cole Whitt, Toyota, 127.929.
19. (34) David Ragan, Ford, 127.903.
20. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 127.792.
21. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 127.682.
22. (47) A J Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 127.648.
23. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 127.605.
24. (95) Michael McDowell, Ford, 127.605.
25. (13) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 127.597.
26. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 127.529.
27. (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 127.444.
28. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 127.436.
29. (78) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 127.351.
30. (51) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 127.343.
31. (40) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 127.182.
32. (98) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 127.174.
33. (23) Alex Bowman, Toyota, 127.165.
34. (7) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 126.896.
35. (36) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 126.645.
36. (10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 126.628.
37. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, Owner Points.
38. (55) Brian Vickers, Toyota, Owner Points.
39. (32) Travis Kvapil, Ford, Owner Points.
40. (83) Ryan Truex, Toyota, Owner Points.
41. (30) Parker Kligerman, Toyota, Owner Points.
42. (66) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, Owner Points.
43. (33) Timmy Hill, Chevrolet, Owner Points.
44. (35) David Reutimann, Ford, 126.62.
45. (77) Dave Blaney, Ford, 125.166.