Hamlin, one of the last cars to go out in the final round of qualifying, posted an average lap speed of 180.751 mph – the fastest lap of the day – and held on to win the pole for Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
The pole is the first of the 2023 season for Hamlin, 37th of his career and – remarkably – the first in his career on a superspeedway.
“That’s the first one for sure, I was well aware,” Hamlin said of winning his first pole on a superspeedway track. “Last year was a great opportunity because all the Toyotas qualified really well on the superspeedways. That was kind of the nature of the (car) bodies that we submitted to NASCAR. So, we knew we’d be fast on these types of race tracks.
“When we re-submitted this year, I think we got more of a balance, and we knew it would slow us up some on these types of tracks. Toyota and those guys continue to make advancements and we get a little faster.”
Asked about the advantages, if any, of starting on the pole at a place like Talladega, Hamlin said: “I would say that qualifying on the pole means my car is very capable of being fast leading. I haven’t been fast in the Next Gen era while leading superspeedways. So, that gives me the confidence that we should be able to lead the pack and make it harder for them to pass us.”
Ford driver Aric Almirola will line up second (180.642 mph) and Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Ty Gibbs, was third (180.594 mph).
Ford drivers Chase Briscoe and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-five.
Completing the top-10 lineup are Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Kyle Larson (the lone Chevrolet in the top-10) and Chris Buescher.
Round 1
Fords and Toyotas dominated the first round of qualifying with Ford driver Briscoe with the fastest average speed (179.730 mph).
Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Gibbs (179.689 mph) and Hamlin (179.635 mph) ended up second and third respectively.
Almirola was fourth and Truex fifth.
Also advancing to the final round were Blaney, Logano, Bell, Buescher and Larson, driving the only Chevrolet in the top-10.
Among those who failed to advance to the final round were Kevin Harvick, Tyler Reddick, Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and three Hendrick Motorsports cars – William Byron, Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott.
Austin Cindric qualified 15th but will have to start Sunday’s race from the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to his No. 2 Penske Ford.