Hamlin passes Ricky Rudd on all-time poles list

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Denny Hamlin will lead the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series field to the green flag on Sunday, at Homestead-Miami Speedway, for the fourth time in 2018.

Hamlin posted the fastest lap time in round three of qualifying, a 31.059 second-time trial (173.863 mph) to earn the top starting spot for the Ford EcoBoost 400.

“I was confident that we would have a shot at it, but it didn’t look as likely after round two for sure where we were a couple tenths off,” said Hamlin, who was the 10th fastest driver in the second round.

Hamlin passed Ricky Rudd, a 23-time winner in the premiere NASCAR series, for 25th all-time on the poles list for the series.

The next three drivers ahead of Hamlin on that list are teammate Kyle Busch (31), Fred Lorenzen (32) and Fireball Roberts (32).

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has won at least one race per season in the MENCS since 2006, his rookie season, yet remains winless in 2018.

The Ford EcoBoost 400 can be watched live on NBC Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET.

SOURCES
Racing-Reference.info