Hamlin takes pole at the Monster Mile

Denny Hamlin has done the right thing by his primary sponsor by taking pole at the FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks in Dover.

Hamlin drove his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to a fast lap of 257.690 km/h (160.121 mph) on the 1-mile concrete oval, known as the ‘Monster Mile’.

It was Hamlin’s first pole of 2015, third at Dover 21st of his Sprint Cup career.

“It’s great – obviously our car’s shown speed all day long, which is something that we haven’t had lately, so we’re kind of building and getting a little bit better and starting to figure out our setups and whatnot,” said Hamlin.

“So we’re getting better and obviously this kind of shows it.”

Dispute sitting second in the points standings, Martin Truex Jr. is still to lock himself in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. However, his chances have received a boost with a front row starting spot alongside Hamlin. Kyle Larson, Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano completed the top five. Defending series’ champion and points leader Kevin Harvick will start sixth.

Some big names were left out of later qualifying rounds at the two elimination stages in the three-round format. Six-time Cup champion and nine-time Dover winner, Jimmie Johnson, will come from 14th on the grid.

Brad Keselowski will start from 19th, while three-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart will start from 26th.

Jeff Green and Travis Kvapil failed to qualify for the 43-car field.

 QUALIFYING:  FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks – Dover International Speedway

POS.	CAR #	DRIVER	MANUFACTURER	SPONSOR	MPH	BEST TIME	BEHIND
1	11	Denny Hamlin		FedEx Cares	160.121	22.483	Leader
2	78	Martin Truex Jr		Furniture Row/Visser Precision	159.723	22.539	–0.056
3	42	Kyle Larson		Target	159.681	22.545	–0.062
4	20	Matt Kenseth		Dollar General	159.674	22.546	–0.063
5	22	Joey Logano		Shell Pennzoil	159.596	22.557	–0.074
6	4	Kevin Harvick		Ditech	159.497	22.571	–0.088
7	16	Greg Biffle		Safety-Kleen Ford Fusion	159.483	22.573	–0.090
8	19	Carl Edwards		Stanley	159.229	22.609	–0.126
9	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr		Ford EcoBoost Ford Fusion	159.046	22.635	–0.152
10	18	Kyle Busch		Skittles	158.975	22.645	–0.162
11	1	Jamie McMurray		McDonald’s/Cessna	158.709	22.683	–0.200
12	3	Austin Dillon		Dow	158.290	22.743	–0.260
13	41	Kurt Busch		Haas Automation	158.891	22.657	–0.174
14	48	Jimmie Johnson		LOWE’S PRO SERVICES	158.814	22.668	–0.185
15	55	David Ragan		Aaron’s Dream Machine	158.660	22.690	–0.207
16	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr		Nationwide	158.479	22.716	–0.233
17	31	Ryan Newman		Caterpillar	158.263	22.747	–0.264
18	27	Paul Menard		Pittsburgh Paints / Menards	158.172	22.760	–0.277
19	2	Brad Keselowski		Miller Lite	158.165	22.761	–0.278
20	15	Clint Bowyer		AAA Insurance	158.144	22.764	–0.281
21	13	Casey Mears		No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet SS	158.096	22.771	–0.288
22	24	Jeff Gordon		3M	158.082	22.773	–0.290
23	43	Aric Almirola		Smithfield	158.082	22.773	–0.290
24	51	Justin Allgaier		AccuDoc Solutions/FOE	157.687	22.830	–0.347
25	5	Kasey Kahne		FARMERS	158.270	22.746	–0.263
26	14	Tony Stewart		Code 3 Associates / Mobil 1	158.082	22.773	–0.290
27	33	Brian Scott		ACME	158.040	22.779	–0.296
28	9	Sam Hornish Jr		Twisted Tea	157.673	22.832	–0.349
29	47	AJ Allmendinger		Scott Products	157.660	22.834	–0.351
30	7	Alex Bowman		TBA	157.301	22.886	–0.403
31	6	Trevor Bayne		Advocare Ford Fusion	157.123	22.912	–0.429
32	38	David Gilliland		The Pete Store	157.054	22.922	–0.439
33	10	Danica Patrick		GoDaddy	156.658	22.980	–0.497
34	46	Michael Annett		Pilot Flying J	156.638	22.983	–0.500
35	26	Jeb Burton		Maxim Fantasy Sports	156.624	22.985	–0.502
36	83	Matt DiBenedetto		Burger King	155.750	23.114	–0.631
37	35	Cole Whitt		TBD	155.139	23.205	–0.722
38	34	Brett Moffitt		Dockside Logistics	154.533	23.296	–0.813
39	98	Josh Wise		TBA	154.440	23.310	–0.827
40	23	J.J. Yeley		Dr. Pepper	154.228	23.342	–0.859
41	62	Brendan Gaughan		TBA	153.551	23.445	–0.962
42	32	Mike Bliss		CorvetteParts.net	153.381	23.471	–0.988
43	40	Landon Cassill		CRC Brakleen	152.678	23.579	–1.096