Denny Hamlin took the pole position for the 22nd race of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season, the Go Bowling at The Glen, at Watkins Glen International.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin took the pole position, his first of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series season, for the 22nd race on the season’s 36-race scheduled, the Go Bowling at The Glen.
Hamlin took the pole for the 90-lap race by recording a top lap time of 70.260 seconds (125.534 miles per hour) around the eight-turn, 2.454-mile (3.949-kilometer) Watkins Glen International road course in Watkins Glen, New York in the third and final round of qualifying in his #11 Toyota.
Sunday morning inspection will finalize the starting lineup, so post-qualifying penalties could have an effect on how the field of 37 drivers will be organized on the starting grid for the race.
Hamlin’s most recent pole position came in the 2017 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. His pole position for tomorrow’s race, assuming it stands, will be the 27th pole position of his Cup Series career.
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Set to start alongside Hamlin is one of his three teammates, Kyle Busch. Busch qualified in second place in his #18 Toyota. Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott is the highest qualifying Chevrolet driver of the race. He qualified in third in his #9 Chevrolet.
Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., who won last season’s Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International, and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth place in their #78 Toyota and #42 Chevrolet, respectively. Team Penske’s Joey Logano is the highest qualifying Ford driver for the race. He qualified in sixth place in his #22 Ford after winning the Xfinity Series race at the track earlier in the day.
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola, JTG Daugherty Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones and Leavine Family Racing’s Kasey Kahne rounded out the top 10 in seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place in their #10 Ford, #47 Chevrolet, #20 Toyota and #95 Chevrolet, respectively.
Of the 12 drivers who made it into the third and final round of qualifying for the race, four drive Toyota cars, four drive Chevrolet cars and four drive Ford cars, so tomorrow’s race should be a pretty close one among the sport’s three manufacturers.
Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney and Front Row Motorsports’ Michael McDowell are the final two Ford drivers who qualified in the top 12. They qualified in 11th and 12th place in their #12 Ford and #34 Ford, respectively.
Here are the full qualifying results of the 2018 Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International.
| Qualifying Results |
| 1st – Denny Hamlin |
| 2nd – Kyle Busch |
| 3rd – Chase Elliott |
| 4th – Martin Truex Jr. |
| 5th – Kyle Larson |
| 6th – Joey Logano |
| 7th – Aric Almirola |
| 8th – A.J. Allmendinger |
| 9th – Erik Jones |
| 10th – Kasey Kahne |
| 11th – Ryan Blaney |
| 12th – Michael McDowell |
| 13th – Jimmie Johnson |
| 14th – Paul Menard |
| 15th – Jamie McMurray |
| 16th – Kevin Harvick |
| 17th – William Byron |
| 18th – Brad Keselowski |
| 19th – Clint Bowyer |
| 20th – Ryan Newman |
| 21st – Kurt Busch |
| 22nd – Chris Buescher |
| 23rd – Daniel Suarez |
| 24th – Alex Bowman |
| 25th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
| 26th – Austin Dillon |
| 27th – David Ragan |
| 28th – Matt Kenseth |
| 29th – Parker Kligerman |
| 30th – Matt DiBenedetto |
| 31st – Darrell Wallace Jr. |
| 32nd – Ty Dillon |
| 33rd – Cole Whitt |
| 34th – Ross Chastain |
| 35th – Josh Bilicki |
| 36th – Spencer Gallagher |
| 37th – Landon Cassill |
Be sure to tune in to NBC tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. ET for the live broadcast of the 2018 Go Bowling at The Glen from Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York. Just 14 races, of which just four are regular season races and 10 are playoff races, will remain on the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series schedule upon its conclusion.