Denny Hamlin Rockets To Martinsville Pole Over William Byron

Martinsville, V.A. -- Denny Hamlin will begin Sunday's Cook Out 400 from a familiar spot, the front of the field at Martinsville Speedway. Hamlin, a six-time race winner at Martinsville, will begin his quest for a seventh win at the paperclip from the pole position.

In Saturday's qualiying session, Hamlin was able to crank out a lightning-quick 19.275-second lap time (98.241 mph), which allowed him to top the other 36 cars that took a lap around the 0.526-mile short track.

Hamlin's lap time was enough to best William Byron, the driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, by a margin of 0.056 seconds for the pole. This marks the 49th pole position of Hamlin's illustrious NASCAR Cup Series career, and it pulls him to within one of 50 career poles.

The driver is now 10th on the all-time NASCAR Cup Series poles list, and sits just two behind "The Rocketman" Ryan Newman for ninth.

Josh Berry, who cut his teeth on regional short tracks and bullrings similar to Martinsville, will start Sunday's race from the third position after he turned an excellent qualifying lap with his No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse.

Ty Gibbs will start fourth as he continues the quest for his first career NASCAR Cup Series win. Sunday's race will mark the 130th of Gibbs' NASCAR Cup Series career, and he comes into Martinsville with momentum on his side. Gibbs has four consecutive top-10 finishes, including three top-fives, over his last four starts.

And Shane van Gisbergen continues to show he isn't a one-trick pony, as the road racing ace continued to get it done on ovals in qualifying. Van Gisbergen, who is inside the Chase cutline after six races, will start the Cook Out 400 from the fifth position.

Austin Cindric, Carson Hocevar, Tyler Reddik, Joey Logano, and Chase Elliott rounded out the top-10 fastest drivers in Saturday's qualifying session.

Official Cook Out 400 Starting Lineup

* "Open" entry
# Rookie of the Year contender
(i) Driver ineligible to score series points