NASCAR at Bristol 2015 Qualifying Results: Race Order, Final Times and Reaction

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series kicked off its race weekend from Bristol, Tennessee, with qualifying on Friday evening for the Irwin Tools Night Race to take place on Saturday, August 22. 

It is a three-round group run from Bristol Motor Speedway, and the field of drivers would be cut to the top 24 in the second round and to 12 in the third in order to find its pole-sitter.

Here are the qualifying results and the official race order. For the entire race field, visit NASCAR.com.

Place	Driver	Best Time
1	Denny Hamlin	14.602
2	Kyle Busch	14.618
3	Carl Edwards	14.686
4	David Ragan	14.708
5	Joey Logano	14.721
6	Brad Keselowski	14.723
7	Kevin Harvick	14.726
8	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	14.746
9	Clint Bowyer	14.754
10	Jimmie Johnson	14.766
11	Kurt Busch	14.823
12	Kyle Larson	14.892

Denny Hamlin won the pole for the Irwin Tools Night Race on Friday and did so in record fashion, according to NASCAR Stats:

It is the 22nd pole win of Hamlin's career as he looks for his second-ever win at Bristol. He's seen some success there with four top-five finishes.

His teammate from Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch finished in second on Friday with a time just 0.016 seconds slower than Hamlin.

This top two is becoming a familiar sight in qualifying, as it is also the same front row as the Xfinity Series race that takes place later on Friday night.

It got even better for Gibbs Racing as Carl Edwards rounded out the top three, capping a very successful two weeks of qualifying for the team:

Kyle Larson was one of the favorites to grab the pole after posting the best times in both practices and breezed into the final round, but he was unable to go much further, qualifying 12th for Saturday's race.

While veteran Jeff Gordon, who is participating in his final season in the Sprint Cup Series, was not as successful in practice, he still grabbed plenty of attention, surprising the racing world with a new look. Well, not really. USA Today's Jeff Gluck was one of the first to see a familiar paint job on Gordon's car.

The old look didn't help much in qualifying, though, as Gordon will start 24th on Saturday. 

Last year's winner at Bristol put together another solid outing in qualifying at Bristol Motor Speedway—Joey Logano will be starting in fifth place. 

It's going to be mayhem on Saturday night as a narrow track paired with what's sure to be aggressive racing will allow Bristol Motor Speedway to live up to its billing as one of the most exciting half miles in all of racing.