Denny Hamlin Officially Earns Busch Pole Award at Watkins Glen; Two Drivers Starting From the Rear

A week after 13 drivers had to fall to the rear of the field after inspection failures, Sunday's inspection session at Watkins Glen International was rather calm. After turning a fast lap on Saturday and then his car passing inspection, Denny Hamlin will start from the pole for Sunday's (August 5th) Go Bowling at the Glen.

His Joe Gibbs Racing teammate and last weekends winner Kyle Busch will start the race in second while Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., and Kyle Larson rounded out the top-five starting grid.

Two drivers failed to pass pre-race/post-qualifying inspection this morning with both starting 36th and 37th. Kurt Busch will start 36th while Paul Menard will start 37th. The 36th place start for Busch is his worst since Daytona in July of 2014. The 37th place start for Menard is his worst start since the 2016 Daytona 500.

Official Starting Lineup for the Go Bowling at the Glen

1. Denny Hamlin
2. Kyle Busch
3. Chase Elliott
4. Martin Truex Jr.
5. Kyle Larson
6. Joey Logano
7. Aric Almirola
8. AJ Allmendinger
9. Erik Jones
10. Kasey Kahne
11. Ryan Blaney
12. Michael McDowell
13. Jimmie Johnson
14. Jamie McMurray
15. Kevin Harvick
16. William Byron
17. Brad Keselowski
18. Clint Bowyer
19. Ryan Newman
20. Chris Buescher
21. Daniel Suarez
22. Alex Bowman
23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
24. Austin Dillon
25. David Ragan
26. Matt Kenseth
27. Parker Kligerman
28. Matt DiBenedetto
29. Darrell Wallace Jr.
30. Ty Dillon
31. Cole Whitt
32. Ross Chastain
33. Josh Bilicki
34. Spencer Gallagher
35. Landon Cassill
36. Kurt Busch
37. Paul Menard

Photo Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images