#11: Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry Offerpad
Denny Hamlin (Toyota Racing photo)

Hamlin Snags Busch Pole For Atlanta Cup Race

HAMPTON, Ga. – Denny Hamlin will lead the field to green for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Hamlin, who won the event in 2012, received the Busch Pole Award courtesy of the highest metric score among the 39 cars entered to compete.

Lap speed is weighted at 15 percent, previous race finish at 25 percent for the driver and owner results and owner points position at 35 percent to calculate the final metric score.

Hamlin earned the pole with a metric score of 2.0, factoring in his third-place finish at Phoenix Raceway, the fastest lap from that event and his top seeding in the point standings after five of 36 races this season.

Phoenix winner Martin Truex Jr., one of Hamlin’s teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing, will join him on the front row, with Team Penske stablemates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski sharing the second row at the 1.54-mile quad-oval.

Chase Elliott completes the top five, followed by Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick, Christopher Bell, William Byron and Ryan Blaney.

Two-time Atlanta winner Kyle Busch rolls off 19th Sunday.

To view the full starting lineup and metric performance breakdown, click here.

Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 goes green at 3 p.m. ET, live on FOX, the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

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