Despite spinning out while getting up to speed during his qualifying attempt, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin claimed the pole for Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at Dover Motor Speedway (1 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The driver of the No. 11 Toyota completed the unique qualifying session by topping the charts in 109.298 seconds (98.812 mph) and enters the “Monster Mile” as the winner of the last two races at the 1-mile concrete track in Delaware.
Brad Keselowki, Erik Jones, Ross Chastain and William Byron rounded out the top five. Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano, Ty Gibbs and Austin Cindric completed the top 10.
Front Row Motorsports driver Zane Smith’s No. 38 crew won the $100,000 prize by completing the fastest stop in the Mechanix Pit Crew Challenge, with a stop of 12.612 seconds. Smith got penalized 10 seconds for speeding on pit road, but it did not impact his No. 38 crew’s standing in the Pit Crew Challenge.
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Multiple drivers ran into trouble during qualifying. Rookie Connor Zilisch tried to make up time by braking late coming to pit road. Then, the driver of the No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet spun on pit entry and was issued a 10-second penalty for speeding.
Legacy Motor Club’s John Hunter Nemechek pulled his No. 42 Toyota out of the pit box before his front-tire changer could tighten the wheel. Nemechek was forced to stop his car to prevent the left-front wheel from falling off.
Hyak Motorsports driver, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who recently signed a multiyear contract extension, spun his No. 47 Chevrolet on the frontstretch and was lucky enough to avoid contact with the inside wall. During qualifying at the “Monster Mile” in 2006, Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson had a similar spin and made a miraculous save on the frontstretch.
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Spire Motorsports driver Michael McDowell sped twice on pit road, which resulted in a 20-second penalty. McDowell’s teammate, Daniel Suárez, had his right-front tire come off after his Pit Crew Challenge stop, sending the No. 7 Chevrolet into the Turn 1 wall. The third Spire driver, Carson Hocevar, had issues with his left-rear tire on pit road, causing a slow stop for the No. 77 Chevrolet.
Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson was issued two separate penalties, with one being a pit-road speeding penalty and the other a blend-line violation. As a result, the No. 5 Chevrolet driver received a 20-second penalty. Larson teammate, Chase Elliott, received a 10-second penalty for an uncontrolled tire on pit road.
RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher spun his No. 17 Ford exiting pit road, while Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney had a slow stop on the right rear and got hit with a 10-second penalty due to a safety violation.
This story will be updated.
