Denny Hamlin wins Busch Light Pole Award at Martinsville; Larson starts third

Denny Hamlin will lead the NASCAR Cup Series field to green Sunday after winning the Busch Light Pole Award for the Xfinity 500 Chase presented by Mobil 1 race (2 p.m. ET, NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver put down a best time of 98.492 mph as Hamlin attempts to chip away at Kyle Larson's 73-point lead in the championship with two races to go. RELATED: Starting lineup | At-track photos: Martinsville However, after struggling in practice, Larson threw down a 98.114 mph lap around the Virginia short track and will start third on Hamlin's heels Sunday. Ty Gibbs (98.241 mph) joins his teammate on the front row. Team Penske's Austin Cindric (97.987 mph) and Joey Logano (97.962 mph) completed the top five in qualifying. Ryan Preece (97.896 mph), Alex Bowman (97.840 mph), William Byron (97.770 mph), Chase Elliott (97.714 mph) and Josh Berry (97.709 mph) rounded out the top 10 on the starting grid. Practice recap Ryan Preece paced the field in Saturday's 50-minute session to kick off on-track activity for the Cup Series this weekend. He put down a quick time of 96.612 mph in the No. 60 RFK Racing Ford. Ford claimed the top three spots with Josh Berry (96.224 mph) and Todd Gilliland (95.927 mph). Ty Gibbs (95.898 mph) and Ross Chastain (95.854 mph) rounded out the top five. Denny Hamlin (95.801 mph), Carson Hocevar (95.757 mph), Chase Elliott (95.690 mph), Michael McDowell (95.641 mph) and Christopher Bell (95.627 mph) completed the top 10 in practice. MORE: Practice results Larson struggled in practice and was only 29th fastest with a 94.822 mph best lap and was not close to the top 10 in any consecutive lap average charts. Chastain had the best 10- and 15-consecutive lap average, while Hocevar topped the board in 20- and 25-consecutive lap average. This story will be updated.