Hamlin takes pole for NASCAR Cup race at Charlotte

CONCORD, N.C. — Denny Hamlin's streak is alive.

Hamlin topped qualifying Friday night for the NASCAR Cup playoff race Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, marking the 13th straight year he has captured a pole on the top circuit.

"I knew the time was running out to get a pole because I hadn't won one this year," said Hamlin about his 25th career pole. "I wanted to keep the streak of winning one every year alive."

Hamlin turned a lap at 191.598 mph in the No. 11 Toyota on the 1 1/2-mile oval for his first pole of the season. He'll share the front row with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Matt Kenseth.

Hamlin has wins at New Hampshire and Darlington this year, but has never won at Charlotte. However, he has always run well here with 15 top 10s and seven top 5s at CMS. He attributes that success to things he's learned from teammates Kenseth and Kyle Busch.

"I love coming to this track because we do run really, really well here, so I'm glad to see it's in the sweet spot of the playoffs where we can really make some hay," Hamlin said.

Kevin Harvick was third, followed by Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is racing for the final time at Charlotte, qualified 23rd in a backup car after he crashed just moments into practice .

Kurt Busch will start eighth.

Busch wore a "VegasStrong" t-shirt under his fire suit to honor the victims of the mass shooting earlier this week in the racing brothers' hometown.

Jimmie Johnson, a seven-time NASCAR champion with eight victories at Charlotte, did not advance out of the first round and will start 25th. Johnson was considered a strong contender to win this race given his given his history, but the poor qualifying may have dealt him a tough blow.

Johnson said it will be difficult to fight his way up through the field.

"I am disappointed with tonight and I am disappointed with how we are qualifying right now," Johnson said. "We just haven't put our finger on it. But we are working hard at it."

Earnhardt Jr.'s final weekend as a full-time driver at his home track got off to a bad start after crashing on a slick surface in practice.

Track officials added a substance called PJ11 to the high line of the track to improve grip. Earnhardt drove his car high early in the afternoon practice session, slipped and hit the wall, prompting his Hendrick Motorsports team to pull out his backup car.

Earnhardt thought the track was too slick.

"I'm avoiding it until somebody can go up there and shows me there is a lap up there," Earnhardt said. "I ain't going near it, on purpose. Might end up in it accidentally a few times, but I don't think anybody is willing to go up there without seeing somebody do it first. It's obviously very slick. It's like ice."

None of the drivers crashed during qualifying.

Martin Truex Jr. said he thinks the track surface will get better and better as the weekend progresses.

"I think we just need some cars to run on that stuff and wear it in and get the track kind of prepped," Truex said. "Certainly I don't think anyone expected it to be as challenging as it was. Maybe for the future we definitely need to look at a different way to prep the track so when we go out there guys aren't running into the wall."

NASCAR Drive for Diversity Combine upcoming

A dozen young drivers from across the United States and Mexico will participate in the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Combine, which will be hosted by Bethune-Cookman and New Smyrna Speedway. The combine will be held Oct. 16-18, but it not open to the public. Several drivers will be selected from this group and given racing opportunities through Rev Racing next year. “We’ve taken an in-depth look at the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Combine and we’ve worked hard to continue to take the program to the next level,” said Jim Cassidy, NASCAR senior vice president of racing operations. Kyle Larson and Daniel Suarez, who went through the combine process, now have NASCAR Cup Series rides.

Andretti to join Penske

Michael Andretti is going to join Roger Penske in racing Down Under next year on the V8 Supercars circuit. Andretti Autosport and McLaren Formula One chief Zak Brown's United Autosports announced late Thursday that they would buy into the Walkinshaw Racing on the Australian touring car circuit.

Hamilton leads F1 practice

Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton clocked the fastest lap in a rain-hit second practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka, Japan. Only five drivers set a timed lap. Hamilton's lap was 1 minute, 48.719 seconds.