LONG POND, Pa. (AP) 鈥� Denny Hamlin will start his third consecutive NASCAR Cup Series race from the pole after qualifying in the top spot at on Saturday.
Hamlin, who is trying to win his third consecutive race, covered the 鈥淭ricky Triangle鈥� in 51.948 seconds during qualifying and averaged 173.250 mph around the 2 1/2-mile track.
It鈥檚 Hamlin鈥檚 third pole of the season and the sixth of his career at Pocono, where he鈥檚 enjoyed more success than any Cup track.
Hamlin also started from the pole the last two weeks 鈥� and won both races. He won the pole at Michigan International Speedway and landed the top starting spot the previous week at Nashville Speedway after rain washed out qualifying.
Hamlin is trying to become the 31st driver to win three races in a row during NASCAR鈥檚 modern era (1972-present).
The 51st pole of Hamlin鈥檚 career tied him with Ryan Newman, who was nicknamed 鈥淭he Rocket鈥� for his qualifying prowess.
Hamlin has 63 career Cup wins and 51 career Cup poles, and he quipped that he鈥檚 now targeting the 60-60 club.
鈥淚t鈥檚 interesting,鈥� Hamlin said. 鈥淢y algorithm feeds me Newman qualifying laps all the time on X. So I see it all the time. I鈥檓 a sucker; I鈥檒l sit around for those 15 or 30 seconds, whatever it is, and watch it because I love the nostalgia of it. 鈥� He was the guy. They call him 鈥楻ocket鈥� for a reason.
鈥淚t was amazing. It was amazing to see. It wasn鈥檛 always sustainable in the race, but the guy knew how to get some speed out of a car.鈥�
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