LONG POND - There once was a time when Denny Hamlin dominated at Pocono Raceway.
From his rookie season in 2006, when he swept both races from the pole, to the end of the 2011 campaign, Hamlin had an average finish of 9.7 and totaled four victories.
Then for the 2012 season, Pocono repaved its track surface and Hamlin struggled. In four races, his average finish was 21.3.
However, if his performance Friday is any indication, Hamlin may have rediscovered his Pocono mojo.
In the final segment of NASCAR's new knockout qualifying format, Hamlin ran a track-record speed of 181.415 mph in 49.610 seconds in his No. 11 Toyota to capture the pole for the Pocono 400 Sprint Cup Series race.
It is his second pole of the season; the other came at Bristol in March. It is also his third pole at Pocono and the 19th of his career. He will lead the 43-car field to the green flag Sunday at 1 p.m.
Three other drivers Friday also surpassed the previous track qualifying mark of 180.654 mph set last August by Jimmie Johnson. Kurt Busch qualified second at 181.408 mph. Brad Keselowski was third at 181.316 mph and Kevin Harvick was fourth at 180.832 mph. Jeff Gordon rounded out the top five at 180.513 mph.
The rest of the top-12 qualifiers from the final segment were Kyle Busch, sixth; Joey Logano, seventh; Dale Earnhardt Jr., eighth; Brian Vickers, ninth; Carl Edwards, 10th; Austin Dillon, 11th; and Tony Stewart, 12th.
Vickers, who was fastest in practice earlier Friday, was also fastest in the first segment at 180.029 mph.
During each of the three qualifying segments, Hamlin kept getting a little better.
Only 24th on the speed chart following practice, he was 12th-fastest after the first 25-minute qualifying segment. He bumped up to sixth in the second 10-minute segment, then took the pole in the final five-minute segment.
"We were really good throughout each segment," Hamlin said. "We certainly were not a pole-winning car after practice or even the first round. We just kept getting our car three- or four-tenths better every time we ran it. (Crew chief) Darian (Grubb) made the right adjustments throughout each session. It all just kind of worked out for us for the pole run."
Busch appeared to be the car to beat after he ripped off a blistering lap of 49.700 seconds at 181.087 mph in the second segment. But in the final segment, he fell .002 seconds shy of Hamlin and had to settle for the second starting spot.
Still, he was far from disappointed.
"It was a great run," Busch said. "We came here with a new approach, to try to give our front end a chance to settle into the race track a little better. The track can lead you to finding some comfort with how smooth it is from the repave. I was really surprised that we had the speed for the pole today because it was our first attempt to find something a little different."
Keselowski has found the new qualifying format to his liking with eight front-row starts - two poles, six seconds - in the first 13 races.
He flirted again with the front row, but will instead start third.
"We were all really close on speed," Keselowski said. "I didn't think Denny was that quick. I knew from the second round that Kurt was. I thought we put up a decent lap, but it was just a tiny bit short."
Hamlin admits he has not been strong at Pocono since the repave. He said handling is no longer as big an issue as it was before the repave because the track now has much more grip. That translates to faster speeds, which makes passing much more difficult.
"Now, you've got to have the fastest car and right track position to win them," Hamlin said. "Back when I was winning in '06, '09, 2010, on the old race track (surface), you could make up tons of positions. I think one time we were 15th with 10 laps to go and made our way to the front. That would never happen today because the cars are running so fast and so equal.
"Hopefully, this is a sign that, as the track is wearing out, we're starting to get our edge back at this race track."
Perhaps another era of Pocono dominance has begun for Denny Hamlin.
(Follow Scott Walsh on Twitter @swalshTT)