BRISTOL, Tenn. — Denny Hamlin set a track record in leading a Toyota sweep of the first two rows in qualifying at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Hamlin turned a lap Friday at 131.407 mph to break the mark of 131.362 mph set last August by Kevin Harvick.

“It looks like I really got the car working the way I needed to there in that final practice,” Hamlin said.

It was Hamlin’s 22nd career Sprint Cup pole and continued a recent dominant trend by Joe Gibbs Racing. JGR drivers have won five of the last six Sprint Cup Series poles and six of the last eight races.

Teammate Kyle Busch qualified second and was followed by JGR driver Carl Edwards. David Ragan, from Michael Waltrip Racing, was fourth to give Toyota the top four starting spots Saturday night.

It was a huge lift for Ragan, who learned Wednesday he needs to find a new job for next year because MWR is closing at the end of the season. Ragan joined MWR in May as the replacement driver for Brian Vickers, who is sidelined because of blood clots.

“I really thought we had a shot at the pole and just didn’t have enough speed that second round,” Ragan said. “Anytime you can start in the top-five, that’s a great starting spot. I feel like we’ve got a good race car. Yeah, we’re pretty happy with that starting spot, but I’ll always wonder if we didn’t have to run so many laps that second round if we would’ve had a shot at the pole.”

Joey Logano was the highest-qualifying non-Toyota driver at fifth in a Ford. He was followed by Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski.

Kevin Harvick was the highest-qualifying Chevrolet at seventh.

Matt Kenseth, winner of the April race at Bristol and the fourth JGR driver, qualified 13th.

JGR has been the hottest team in NASCAR all summer and leads Sprint Cup with nine victories. All four JGR drivers have won this season.

“It’s just a great day,” said Hamlin. “Our car’s had speed in it all day and it looks like I really got the car working the way I needed it to there in the final practice.”

XFINITY: Kyle Busch got past leader Chris Buescher on an overtime restart and pulled away for his eighth Xfinity Series victory at Bristol Motor Speedway.

It was the 73rd Xfinity Series victory for Busch, who holds the record for most wins in NASCAR’s second tier series. It also was his third win in six Xfinity Series starts this year.

Buescher was leading when the eighth caution of the race with five laps remaining set up a green-white-checkered finish. He bobbled on the restart as his Ford ran out of gas, and Busch sailed by for the victory.

BRUTON SMITH, the executive chairman of Speedway Motorsports Inc., revealed that he was treated for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in June, and said he used this weekend’s races at Bristol Motor Speedway as motivation during his recovery.

Smith arrived Wednesday for the Truck Series race – his first since his diagnosis. He missed a total of four race weekends at SMI properties while he was ill.

“I hate to miss any of our races, it’s heartbreaking,” Smith said in an interview with The Associated Press and ESPN.com. “I enjoy what I do. I love the automobile business, I like the racing business and I want to do more and more. That is the driver for me – to just do more things. I just like what I do.”

Smith, 88, was reluctant to discuss his health during the interview. His son, Marcus, and longtime aide, Don Hawk, eventually explained his illness.

“He’s been given a really good prognosis on his health, he’s responded to the treatment really well and beyond the expectations,” Marcus Smith said.