Hamlin on NASCAR Cup Pole at Martinsville, Larson to Start Third

RIDGEWAY, Va. -- Denny Hamlin will start on the pole for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway as he tries keep himself in the hunt for the championship.

Hamlin laid down a lap around the half-mile paperclip in 19.226 seconds, which was half-a-tenth faster than his pole lap in the spring. 

Hamlin will start on the pole for the sixth time this season and for the second time in a row at Martinsville. In the spring, he led 292 of 400 laps, won the first two stages and ran the fastest lap of the race but finished second and missed out on maximum points -- 76 -- when Chase Elliott took the lead from him late to steal the win. 

Now 73 points behind leader Kyle Larson, Hamlin will need a maximum points day and for Larson to not have a great day to stay in the title hunt.

However, Larson didn't help him. Although he was no better than 27th on the overall and 10-lap average charts, he qualified third with a lap of 19.3 seconds. 

Coincidentally, Larson started third last fall at Martinsville. He finished fifth in the race and earned enough stage points to earn 49 points. If Hamlin earned maximum points, he'd cut Larson's lead to 46 heading into the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

A 46-point lead would mean Larson would need to earn at least 30 points at Homestead-Miami to clinch the title. That's equivalent to seventh-place finish with no stage points.

TOP-10 STARTERS: Denny Hamlin (19.226), Ty Gibbs (19.275), Kyle Larson (19.3), Austin Cindric (19.325), Joey Logano 19.33), Ryan Preece (19.343), Alex Bowman (19.354), William Byron (19.368), Chase Elliott (19.379), Josh Berry (19.38).

The next closest championship competitors in the standings are Christopher Bell (-74) and Chase Briscoe (-79). Briscoe starts 11th, three positions ahead of Briscoe. 

Logano (-100) and Blaney (-107) are mathematically still in contention for the championship. Tyler Reddick (-126) is also still in contention but starting 12th will make it tougher.

Cody Ware didn't turn a qualifying lap after getting into the back of Ross Chastain when he stalled exiting turn four in practice. That incident nearly involved Kyle Larson, who had to swerve to avoid damage and possibly losing out on a qualifying lap. 

Ryan Preece was fastest overall in practice, with a lap of 19.6 seconds. He and Josh Berry were the only drivers in the 19.6-second range during Saturday's practice.

Gibbs and Hamlin were fourth and fifth, respectively. Larson was farther back but by the end of the session, his speed improved.

The NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 goes green Sunday just after 2 p.m. ET on NBC, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 and MRN affiliates. William Byron won last year.