Edwards Leads JGR Qualifying Sweep at Bristol

BRISTOL, TN – Denny Hamlin owns a new track record, but Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammate Carl Edwards won the round that counted in Friday’s knockout qualifying session at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Edwards sped around the .533-mile high-banked concrete short track in 14.602 seconds (131.407 mph) to claim the top starting spot for Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops NRA night Race (8 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), edging Hamlin (131.200 mph) by .023 seconds.

Starting Lineup

Remarkably, Edwards earned his fifth Coors Light Pole Award of the season, his fourth at Bristol and the 21st of his career without making a mock qualifying run during either of Friday’s two practice sessions. Instead, the driver of the No. 19 Toyota relied on setup information from his teammates – including Hamlin.

“It’s nice to have fast teammates,” said Edwards, who will try to duplicate his pole-winning, race-winning performance from April. “We wouldn’t have had a shot at (the pole) if it wasn’t for them. We thought it was going to rain, so we didn’t practice qualifying or anything. My guys made great adjustments based on that information.

“I just hope we can finish it off the way we did in the spring.”

All four JGR drivers qualified in the top five for the 23rd NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of the season. Kyle Busch (130.931 mph) will start third and Matt Kenseth(130.619 mph) fifth. The only interloper was Ford driver Ryan Blaney (130.637 mph), who grabbed the fourth spot on the grid in the No. 21 Wood Brothers RacingFusion.

With a blistering run in 14.573 seconds (131.668 mph) in the first round, Hamlin broke the track record he set for this event last year, eclipsing his own mark of 14.602 seconds (131.407 mph). But Hamlin was the last of 12 drivers out for the final round and fell just short of Edwards’ winning time.

“We had really good speed, so I’m pretty optimistic about that,” said Hamlin, who will start within the top six for the 15th time this season. “I can’t believe we’ve qualified as good as we have this year and not gotten a pole.

“It’s unbelievable – still a great effort by our whole team. I hope we can have a great race up here on (Saturday) night and get in Victory Lane.”

Chris Buescher, fighting to crack the top 30 in the standings and qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup (based on his victory at Pocono), qualified 12th, one position behind Jeff Gordon, who made the final round for the first time in his fourth start in place of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Gordon’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott had the fastest Chevrolet, qualifying sixth.

source – Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service