NASCAR at Dover 2015 Qualifying Results: Race Order, Final Times, Reaction
The FedEx car won the pole for the FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks at Dover International Speedway during qualifying Friday. That's just effective advertising.
Denny Hamlin captured the Coors Light Pole Award at Dover with an impressively fast lap of 160.121 mph. The track in Dover is known as the "Monster Mile," but nothing stood in Hamlin's way Friday (although he didn't come close to topping the track qualifying record of 164.444 mph set by Brad Keselowski in May 2014).
Jeff Gluck of USA Today noted that this was Hamlin's 21st career pole, but it was his first of the season. Gluck also pointed out that Hamlin apparently understands exactly how to tame the Monster Mile, while Xfinity Racing acknowledged the irony of the victory:
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Martin Truex Jr. qualified second and will start alongside Hamlin on the front row Sunday.
Here is a look at the results and times for all the top finishers, per NASCAR.com:
| 1 | Denny Hamlin | 160.121 | 22.483 | -- |
| 2 | Martin Truex Jr. | 159.723 | 22.539 | 0.056 |
| 3 | Kyle Larson | 159.681 | 22.545 | 0.062 |
| 4 | Matt Kenseth | 159.674 | 22.546 | 0.063 |
| 5 | Joey Logano | 159.596 | 22.557 | 0.074 |
| 6 | Kevin Harvick | 159.497 | 22.571 | 0.088 |
| 7 | Greg Biffle | 159.483 | 22.573 | 0.090 |
| 8 | Carl Edwards | 159.229 | 22.609 | 0.126 |
| 9 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 159.046 | 22.635 | 0.152 |
| 10 | Kyle Busch | 158.975 | 22.645 | 0.162 |
| 11 | Jamie McMurray | 158.709 | 22.683 | 0.200 |
| 12 | Austin Dillon | 158.290 | 22.743 | 0.260 |
Friday's qualifying consisted of three rounds, with 24 drivers advancing out of the initial round. Greg Biffle turned in the fastest time in that first round, but it was of far more interest which drivers were eliminated. Gluck shared some of the big names who didn't reach Friday's second round:
Hamlin did his best foreshadowing in the second round when he turned in the fastest time. In all, 12 drivers advanced to the third and decisive round, but superstars like Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson did not reach the final stage.
Dustin Long of NBC Sports passed along an interesting tidbit, while Fox Sports NASCAR shared some quotes from a still-confident Johnson after the disappointing qualifying showing:
The lack of superstars in the final round took some of the drama away for fans in attendance at Dover, but Truex and Hamlin provided quite a show near the end. Truex's best time nearly survived to the end of qualifying, but Hamlin topped it with less than 30 seconds remaining.
It was an impressive showing and set Hamlin up in prime position for Sunday's race.
Alan Cavanna of Fox Sports pointed out Hamlin wasn't the only one celebrating since Matt Kenseth recently won the pole at the Coca-Cola 600:
This was Hamlin's first pole of the season, but he still sits in a solid 15th place in the Sprint Cup Series standings. He has a golden opportunity to parlay his starting position into a victory or a top-10 finish and make a charge up the standings with plenty of races still ahead.
He is clearly comfortable with the track given his career performances in qualifying (and his best time in the second and third rounds this year) and will have nothing but the Monster Mile staring at him when he starts his engine Sunday. A quick start from that spot will be critical to avoid some of the early traffic and potential wrecks that could develop on the challenging course.
Hamlin is in the ideal position to get off to that quick start thanks to his performance Friday.
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