Denny Hamlin put himself in prime position to win on Sunday in the Auto Club 500 as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series hits California, winning the pole position for the race with a lap on Friday at Fontana of 187.451 mph to put Joe Gibbs Racing in the front spot.
Hamlin is trying to become the first pole winner to take a victory on Sunday, while Greg Biffle and Brad Keselowski will start behind him after coming in second and third on Friday in the qualifying run. Hamlin was able to have his first number one start of the season, marking the 13th in his career after taking three last season. He has now taken the pole three times at the track.
Hamlin also spoke about the issues he had with former teammate Joey Logano last week in Bristol, which saw the two get into a tussle and an argument after Hamlin made contact with Logano, forcing him into the wall in the final laps. He eventually finished 23rd and had a solid day while leading for a number of laps.
Keselowski has been solid all season, finishing in three top 10s during the year so far after winning the Sprint Cup championship last year. Following in qualifying were Tony Stewart in eighth and Mark Martin in ninth, who will be in front of Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne, who took the checkered flag last week for the first time this season. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was 15th and Stewart will be looking to defend his win from last year.
Danica Patrick has had a rough start to the season after winning the pole at Daytona and leading laps in the 500, as she crashed at Phoenix and had a rough day in Bristol as well as Las Vegas. She celebrated her birthday with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. earlier in the week at a concert in Vegas for Shania Twain and she is hoping that the good times will give her good luck on Sunday.
This season Jimmie Johnson took home the Daytona 500, Carl Edwards won the checkered flag at Phoenix, while Matt Kenseth won at Las Vegas before Kahne won at Bristol last Sunday.
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