Denny Hamlin earns third pole of season at Pocono
For the third time in 2022, Denny Hamlin will lead the Cup Series field to green as he won the pole at Pocono Raceway on Saturday afternoon with a 169.991 mph lap.
It’s the 36th career pole award for the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
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A balanced field will make up the first three rows for Sunday’s M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) as two Toyotas, two Chevrolets and two Fords make up the top six positions.
Kyle Busch will join Hamlin on the front row after completing a 169.498 mph lap.
Cup Series champions and Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson locked out Row 2 while Chris Buescher and Ryan Blaney will start in Row 3.
Toyota landed all cars inside the top 11 with five cars inside the top 10, but not all is golden for the manufacturer as Kurt Busch spun and crashed coming off Turn 3 and suffered heavy damage that will force him to a backup car for Sunday’s race.
Busch’s 23XI teammate Bubba Wallace earned his second-straight start inside the top 10 while Martin Truex Jr. will start eighth.
Daniel Suárez will start ninth.
