Hamlin earns first pole of season with fast lap at RIR

RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia native Denny Hamlin ripped off a lap at 126.198 mph to edge Mark Martin (126.033 mph) for the pole position for Saturday night's Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway.

On his second lap in Friday's time trials, Hamlin toured the .75-mile "D"-shaped short track in 21.395 seconds. Martin, who had gone out early in the session, had covered the distance in 21.423 seconds.

Crown Royal 400

Race Lineup

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	Denny Hamlin	Toyota
2.	Mark Martin	Chevrolet
3.	Martin Truex Jr.	Chevrolet
4.	Patrick Carpentier	Dodge
5.	Reed Sorenson	Dodge
6.	Juan Montoya	Dodge
7.	Kyle Busch	Toyota
8.	Elliott Sadler	Dodge
9.	Kasey Kahne	Dodge
10.	Ryan Newman	Dodge

• Complete Lineup click here

Martin Truex Jr. (125.829 mph) was third, followed by rookie Patrick Carpentier (125.827 mph), whose fourth-place starting position is a career best. Reed Sorenson (125.722 mph) claimed the fifth spot for Saturday's 400-lap race.

How important was Hamlin's pole-winning performance?

"A pole at Richmond equals a win anywhere else we go," confessed the driver of the No. 11 Toyota, who hasn't won in four previous starts at the track. "It's a great start to the weekend. We've just got to finish it off on Saturday night."

The pole was Hamlin's first of the season, his second at Richmond and the sixth of his career. After turning the lap, Hamlin admitted that a case of nerves all but got the best of him as he turned his final lap.

"What's good about it was that we were able to do it under pressure," he said. "My heart was beating out of my chest."

Martin was pleasantly surprised that Hamlin was the only driver to better his time.

"Our car was pretty good in practice, but that doesn't always translate to qualifying," Martin said. "To be honest, I'm really surprised that time held up as well as it did against the shade coming over Turn 3 (which presumably would cool the track and make it faster)."

Carpentier was fastest of the drivers required to qualify on speed, leading three Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodges to top-10 starting positions (Elliott Sadler qualified eighth and Kasey Kahne ninth).

"For the first time, I won't see the leaders coming by me so quickly -- hopefully," Carpentier said.

Ken Schrader (subbing for the injured Dario Franchitti), Scott Wimmer, John Andretti and Jon Wood failed to qualify for the race.

News and Notes

• Points leader Jeff Burton starts 33rd and Dale Earnhardt Jr., one of the pre-race favorites, will start 22nd.
• Four-time Cup champ Jeff Gordon qualified 28th, six spots farther back than his previous worst starting position at Richmond.
• Robby Gordon will start 38th in his first race with new crew chief Walter Giles, after firing Giles' predecessor, Frank Kerr, earlier this week.
• Carl Edwards qualified 19th with crew chief Bob Osborne back on the pit box after a six-race suspension.