Denny Hamlin spins, still wins pole for All-Star Race in crazy qualifying session

All-Star Race qualifying at Dover was far from conventional, and not just because of the unique format. Drivers had to complete three laps, including a four-tire pit stop at the end of the second lap.

The qualifying session featured numerous incidents, penalties, and loose wheels. 

Denny Hamlin, who won the Dover points race last year, secured pole position even after spinning on his warmup lap. He will share the front row with Brad Keselowski, with Erik Jones third, Ross Chastain fourth, and William Byron fifth.

Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano, Ty Gibbs, and Austin Cindric filled out the remainder of the top ten.

“I was just trying to get as much heat in the tires as I possibly could,” said Hamlin regarding the spin. “Just trying to feel it out, and it was slick. I just didn’t want to flat-spot them (after spinning), and I still could feel a little vibration during the lap. The lap was still competitive, even though I didn’t do a great job with the tires on the warmup there. But hats off to the team, they’re the ones who keep you in the game. It’s all about the pit stop.”

As Hamlin hinted at, pole position was only half the battle on Saturday, as the pit crews were battling to give their driver the fastest stop, as they quickest crew was going to walk away with the $100,000 prize for winning the Pit Crew Challenge.

In the end, it was the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford (Zane Smith) that was victorious with a 12.612s stop. They beat the No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet (Shane van Gisbergen), with that crew recording a 12.841s stop.

Mistakes and incidents dominate qualifying

Bowman set the early benchmark with a 1:50.907s run, including the pit stop. 

There were several dramatic moments, beginning with Connor Zilisch spinning wildly into pit road and narrowly missing the sand barrels at the entrance. He also got a 10-second time penalty.

John Hunter Nemechek could not complete his run after leaving the pits with an unsecured left-front wheel, coming to a stop at the direction of his team.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr then spun wildly at the exit of Turn 4, but he managed to keep it from slamming the inside wall. His run was over, but his car was still intact.

“Mainly, I was feeling bad for all my guys that they didn’t the opportunity to do their pit stop, so I’m definitely going to owe them something,” said Stenhouse back in the garage. “And once I kept it off the wall, I felt like Jimmie Johnson from here back in the day when he was spinning in all different directions. I had my hands full in there.”

Watch: Stenhouse makes incredible save during All-Star qualifying

Jones and team were the first to topple Bowman with a 1:49.880s run.

Zane Smith went to the top of the board but because he got caught speeding on pit entry, he was issued a 10-second time penalty. Michael McDowell followed suit, going to the top, only to be derailed by two speeding penalties.

AJ Allmendinger did not take part in qualifying because his car would not start. Preece got a 10-second time penalty for a blend lend violation, but the biggest incident involved Daniel Suarez. After completing his run in third, the right-front wheel disconnected and he slammed the Turn 1 wall.

Watch: Suárez hits wall after wheel flies off in All-Star qualifying

Keselowski was the first to best Jones with a 1:49.442s run, and while Larson beat him soon after, the reigning series champion was hit with a 20-second time penalty for both a blend line violation and speeding.

Carson Hocevar‘s left-rear wheel was unsecured when they dropped the jack, but the team caught it before letting him leave. The loss of time destroyed his run, though.

Chris Buescher had a strong run going and could have challenged his teammate for the top spot, but he spun on the apron exiting the pits as he tried to put the throttle down. He also got hit with a 20-second time penalty for speeding and a blend line violation, putting him near the very back.

Ryan Blaney was another driver with mistakes on pit road, as the team had to jack the car back up to secure the right-rear wheel. He also got hit with 10-second penalty for a safety violation.

Chase Elliott had to stop and reverse back into his box as the team failed to get the left-front tight as well.

Hamlin then spun exiting pit road on his warmup lap, but he managed not to hit anything. Despite that, he went to the top of the board with a 1:49.298s run.

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– The Motorsport.com Team

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