LONG POND, Pa. — Denny Hamlin is the new driver to beat at Pocono Raceway, proving that Friday by winning the pole at the track where he scored his first career victory.

Hamlin, who won here last month, made his qualifying lap very late in the session with Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne sitting on top of the chart. But he posted a lap at 169.827 mph to grab the pole.

“You like this place, don’t you?” crew chief Mike Ford asked Hamlin as he climbed out of his car.

He certainly does.

“I just went out there, the track had a lot of grip, and it was good enough for the pole,” Hamlin said.

Hamlin mastered this track in June, partly because he had studied Pocono’s characteristics during hours upon hours of racing it on a video game.

He then won the pole, overcame nearly wrecking his Chevrolet after a blown tire sent him spinning through the grass, and held off the competition after a late red-flag to score the win.

Hamlin would love another win _ or even a decent finish _ to work his way into Chase for Championship contention. He heads into Sunday’s race 12th in the standings, just 18 points out of the top 10.

He’ll be racing the same No. 11 Chevrolet that he took to Victory Lane.

“We had the patience to not race this car again until we came here,” he said. “When we did that, our car was right on target. But the rest of the year we are going to use it up pretty good.”

Newman, who won the pole last weekend in New Hampshire, was second with a lap at 169.418 mph. He’d like to go to the end this week, though _ he crashed and finished 39th last week.

“If we can make one lap, we can put them together and make 200 here,” Newman said. “It’s just a matter of getting things right.”

Kahne was third and was followed by Hendrick Motorsports teammates Brian Vickers and Jeff Gordon.

Jeff Burton, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Scott Riggs and Joe Nemechek rounded out the top 10.

Stephen Leicht, a 19-year-old Busch Series driver for Robert Yates Racing, qualified 36th and will make his Nextel Cup debut on Sunday. With Elliott Sadler and Dale Jarrett both leaving RYR at the end of the season, many believe this is the first step toward Leicht getting one of those empty seats in 2007.

“I never thought I’d be here this fast, especially after getting only about 20 laps of practice,” Leicht said. “I just found out Monday that I was coming here to race and made the race. ”

Washinton Post

STARTING LINEUP:

1 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Chevrolet
2 12 Ryan Newman Mobil 1/Alltel Dodge
3 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge
4 25 Brian Vickers ditech.com/GMAC Chevrolet
5 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet
6 31 Jeff Burton Cingular Wireless Chevrolet
7 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge
8 5 Kyle Busch CARQUEST Chevrolet
9 10 Scott Riggs Valvoline Dodge
10 01 Joe Nemechek U.S. Army Chevrolet
11 17 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Ford
12 29 Kevin Harvick GM Goodwrench Chevrolet
13 20 Tony Stewart The Home Depot Chevrolet
14 07 Clint Bowyer Jack Daniels Chevrolet
15 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet
16 99 Carl Edwards Office Depot Ford
17 1 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet
18 21 Ken Schrader U.S. Air Force Ford
19 96 Tony Raines DLP HDTV Chevrolet
20 16 Greg Biffle National Guard Ford
21 18 J.J. Yeley Interstate Batteries Chevrolet
22 19 Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge
23 41 Reed Sorenson Target Dodge
24 22 Dave Blaney Caterpillar Dodge
25 38 Elliott Sadler Combos/M&M’s Ford
26 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser Chevrolet
27 43 Bobby Labonte Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge
28 26 Jamie McMurray Crown Royal Ford
29 7 Robby Gordon Menards Chevrolet
30 6 Mark Martin AAA Ford
31 42 Casey Mears Texaco/Havoline Dodge
32 66 Jeff Green Best Buy Chevrolet
33 45 Kyle Petty Kyle Petty Charity Ride Dodge
34 49 Kevin Lepage LoansDepot.com Dodge
35 14 Sterling Marlin Ginn Clubs & Resorts Chevrolet
36 90 Stephen Leicht citifinancial Ford
37 44 Terry Labonte Kellogg’s Chevrolet
38 61 Chad Chaffin Hilton Garden Inn Dodge
39 88 Dale Jarrett UPS Ford
40 55 Michael Waltrip NAPA Dodge
41 32 Travis Kvapil Tide/Downy Chevrolet
42 4 Scott Wimmer AERO Exhaust Chevrolet
43 40 David Stremme Lonestar Steakhouse Dodge

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