Hamlin looks for momentum after Atlanta pole

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Late qualifier Denny Hamlin was the only driver between Ryan Newman and a record eighth pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

But Hamlin, the 31st driver to make a run during Saturday's time trials for Sunday's Emory Healthcare 500, knocked Newman, the third driver to qualify, off the pole with a lap at 187.380 mph to Newman's 187.070 mph.

Hamlin won five races early in the season before suffering through an uneven, winless stretch in the past nine races. Even though two races remain before the Chase for the Sprint Cup field is set Sept. 11 at Richmond, Hamlin said Saturday, "Our Chase starts now."

"These next two weeks, we're bringing everything we've got to the race track -- the best stuff that we have --and see how we're going to stack up against the competition," said Hamlin, who won his first pole of the season and the eighth of his career.

"We're not waiting for the Chase. We're bringing what we have to see where we're going to stack up competition-wise these next two weeks. We brought our best stuff here. We never qualify on the pole. We never qualify in the top 10, so this is a great step at a good time for our team."

Newman edged Kyle Busch (187.063 mph) for the second starting spot. Carl Edwards (186.881 mph) will start fourth after posting the same speed as fifth-place qualifier Tony Stewart, who lost the position on an owners' points tiebreaker.

Three drivers contesting the 12th and final Chase position will start in close proximity on Sunday. Thirteenth-place Jamie McMurray, who trails Clint Bowyer in 12th by 100 points, qualified 12th. Bowyer will start 14th, and Mark Martin, who trails McMurray by one point ,will roll off in the 17th spot.

Newman, who is 15th in the standings and 118 points behind Bowyer, remains tied with his mentor, Buddy Baker, for most Atlanta poles.

"I think we have a good race package, as well," Newman said. "All that being said, we're second. We'll start up front and hopefully finish up there.

"We can't expect as a team to go out there and make up points in two races that we didn't accomplish in the last 24. That being said, we'll do the best job we possibly can. We'll go out, and if we win the race, we win the race. If we finish in the top five in both of them, we still may not have enough points to make it into the Chase. So either way, we are searching for our best finish, no different than any other race."

Hamlin is coming off a 34th-place finish at Bristol and is fifth in the point standings.

"I feel like the last 10 races have definitely been up and down for our team," he said. "We were on such a hot streak there. We kind of got spoiled. The regular season was kind of irrelevant at that point because we knew we were going to get in the Chase."

Hamlin said the team started racing for victories instead of points.

"We found ourselves going for wins so much, going all-out for wins, that it probably hurt us in the long run. These next two weeks, we're going back to points racing," Hamlin said.

Hamlin wanted to get that new attitude started with a strong qualifying run, and that's just what he got from his No. 11 Toyota Camry.

"I'm trying to get cautiously optimistic, but that's the fastest car I've ever had on the race track. It was very, very, very good."

If all goes according to plan, Hamlin will have a couple of high finishes -- maybe even another victory or two -- heading into the 10-race Chase.

"I'm trying to do the best I can to pretend the Chase starts here," he said. "Hopefully, we can start some momentum now, so we're really hitting our stride when the Chase starts."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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