Denny Hamlin, a five-time race winner at his home track, Richmond Raceway, is the last driver to win here from pole position – claiming the win from the number one starting spot in 2016.
Asked Friday why the Busch Light Pole Winner has so seldom won the race recently, Hamlin paused and gave a well-thought-out answer about his hometown .75-mile oval.
“I think the average starting position for the winner is somewhere around 6.7, something like that,’’ said Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
“So you just kind of put yourself somewhere in that range. I think a lot of the reason is that qualifying here is extremely, extremely technical.
“I would say it’s probably the hardest [track] to qualify to hit your marks. … I think that sometimes whoever’s got the best car doesn’t qualify on the pole because it’s just really, really difficult to put it all together, and sometimes someone with a decent car can just hit the marks just right, and that’s when they get the pole. So, I think the technicality of the actual line that you have to run makes it to where you see comers and goers here.”
In 37 starts, Hamlin has an amazing 8.9 starting position and has earned four career poles, the last in 2024 when he finished runner-up in the race. He starts 14th Saturday night.
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