Denny Hamlin
REUTERS

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin put together his strongest showing since injuring his back almost two months ago by setting a record lap and winning the pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600.

The 31-year-old lightning rod took his time to return from the cracked vertebrae suffered in California, and his pole victory in Charlotte, along with the second place showing in Darlington two weeks ago, kept Hamlin in the top 30 in points for the Sprint Cup chase.

Matt Kenseth will start two spots back from Hamlin and can make up some ground on the 59 points he trails Jimmie Johnson in the standings.

Furniture Row’s Kurt Busch revs his engine from the No. 2 slot. Busch was second in last week’s All-Star race and took the checkered flag in Darlington.

Johnson will try to make history Sunday by winning the Coca-Cola 600 for the fourth time in his illustrious career. He won the All-Star race for a record fourth time last week, and has finished no lower than sixth in seven of his 12 starts this season.

The race begins at 6 p.m. Eastern and will be broadcast by FOX.

Below is the lineup for tonight’s for the Coca-Cola 600:

1. Denny Hamlin
2. Kurt Busch
3. Matt Kenseth
4. Mark Martin
5. Clint Bowyer
6. Kasey Kahne.
7. Greg Biffle
8. Kyle Busch
9. Jamie McMurray
10. Ryan n ewman
11. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
12. Jimmie Johnson
13. Carl Edwards
14. Jeff Gordon
15. Kevin Harvick
16. Juan Pablo Montoya
17. Martin Truex Jr.
18. Aric Almirola
19. Marcos Ambrose
20. Brad Keselowski
21. Casey Mears
22. Paul Menard
23. JJ Yeley
24. Danica Patrick
25. Tony Stewart
26. David Gililand
27. Jeff Burton
28. Travis Kvapil
29. Trevor Bayne
30. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
31. Joey Logano
32. Michael McDowell
33. Dave Blaney
34. Bobby Labonte
35. David Raga
36. Regan Smith
37. Scott Speed
38. David Reutimann
39. David Stremme
40. Timmy Hill
41. Joe Nemechek
42. Landon Cassill
43. Josh Wise