Hamlin earns pole at hometown track

Denny Hamlin didn't realize how much he was feeling the pressure to perform in front of his hometown crowd until he was hurtling around the track in qualifying.
“I knew I was under pressure because my heart was beating out of my chest during my lap,” Hamlin said after his fastest lap at 126.198 mph gave him his sixth career pole and second at Richmond.
He's from Chesterfield, about a 15-minute drive from Richmond International Raceway.
“When your foot is shaking on the gas pedal, the nerves are starting to get to you,” Hamlin said. “I don't know why. It's just a starting position for us, but it's something special about this race track. When you perform well, it just gives you that extra boost of confidence.”
Hamlin's Toyota will have the Chevrolet of Mark Martin on the outside for Saturday night's Crown Royal 400, with the Chevrolet of Martin Truex Jr. and rookie Patrick Carpentier's Dodge in the second row. The Dodges of Reed Sorenson and Juan Pablo Montoya are next. A complete lineup can be found here.

-- The Associated Press