Posted May 28, 2022 by Justin Melillo Cup

Denny Hamlin leads quartet of Toyotas in Coca-Cola 600 qualifying

CONCORD, N.C. — It was both a Front Row and Row 2 lockout from the Toyota camp on Saturday night as Denny Hamlin took the pole position for the longest race of the season to come on Sunday night, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Hamlin will start alongside his 23XI Racing driver and Toyota teammate Kurt Busch on the front row. Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Christopher Bell and Kyle Busch will start from the second row. The other 23XI Racing Toyota, driven by Bubba Wallace, also made the final round of qualifying and placed in seventh.

“It was good off the truck,” Hamlin said. That’s about been the story for the Toyota teams since at least Kansas, where Kurt Busch was able to win and all six Toyota drivers placed in the Top 10.

Kurt Busch barely missed out on claiming the pole position. Photo by Justin Melillo / The Racing Experts LLC.

The only Toyota that didn’t make the second round of qualifying for the Coca-Cola 600 was former race winner, the 2017 champion Martin Truex Jr. His time was only good enough for a 14th place effort, continuing to add to a season that he still hasn’t been able to find victory lane during.

The best of the rest went to Chevrolet driver William Byron, who qualified fifth. He’ll start alongside the best Ford driver on the evening, Daytona 500 champion Austin Cindric. After Wallace, Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman and Michael McDowell rounded out the Top 10.

There was one incident during qualifying. Brad Keselowski went for a slide out of Turn 4 as he was about to complete his lap. Keselowski will start 35th on Sunday. Photo by Justin Melillo / The Racing Experts LLC.

Sunday night’s race is 400 laps, 600 miles in length, and will be the only race to feature four equidistant 100-lap stages with three stage winners claiming a playoff point for winning, as opposed to the normal two stage winners plus the overall race winner.

The action will be live on FOX and the race is scheduled to kickoff around 6:00 p.m. ET. Who do you think will take the crown jewel victory? Let us know in the comments!

Featured Image: Photo by Justin Melillo / The Racing Experts LLC.