Denny Hamlin claimed the pole for Sunday’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway with a 171.381 mph lap. It’s his second Cup Series pole at Darlington, his second this season, and the 45th of his career.
He was pleased with the progress the team made on his No. 11 Toyota after adjustments following practice.
“We struggled with balance all through race practice, but we made some good adjustments to run one lap.”
His Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Chase Briscoe, the defending race winner, will start beside Hamlin on the front row.
“That one stings,” Briscoe said. “My 1 and 2 were really good, and I didn’t want to go into (Turn) 3 and hit the wall or something, so I under-drove it.”Playoff drivers Josh Berry, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, Austin Dillon, William Byron, Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric completed the top-12 fastest drivers of the qualifying session.
The remaining four playoff drivers qualified outside the top 12. Joey Logano will start 14th, followed by Shane van Gisbergen (20th), Chase Elliott (21st) and Alex Bowman (29th).
Starting Lineup
Darlington Raceway
Cook Out Southern 500
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Denny Hamlin (P) | Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota | 28.694 | 171.381 |
| 2 | 19 | Chase Briscoe (P) | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 28.715 | 171.255 |
| 3 | 21 | Josh Berry (P) | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford | 28.829 | 170.578 |
| 4 | 45 | Tyler Reddick (P) | Pinnacle Toyota | 28.848 | 170.466 |
| 5 | 5 | Kyle Larson (P) | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 28.925 | 170.012 |
| 6 | 1 | Ross Chastain (P) | Busch Light Retro Chevrolet | 28.933 | 169.965 |
| 7 | 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | Rheem Toyota | 28.962 | 169.795 |
| 8 | 23 | Bubba Wallace (P) | U.S. Air Force Toyota | 28.985 | 169.66 |
| 9 | 3 | Austin Dillon (P) | BPS/Winchester Deer Season XP Chevrolet | 29.004 | 169.549 |
| 10 | 2 | Austin Cindric (P) | Discount Tire Ford | 29.023 | 169.438 |
| 11 | 24 | William Byron (P) | All-Pro Auto Reconditioning Chevrolet | 29.025 | 169.426 |
| 12 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | Menards/Dutch Boy Ford | 29.032 | 169.386 |
| 13 | 7 | Justin Haley | Gainbridge Chevrolet | 29.06 | 169.222 |
| 14 | 22 | Joey Logano (P) | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 29.08 | 169.106 |
| 15 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Kroger/Tree Top Ford | 29.082 | 169.094 |
| 16 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Monster Energy Toyota | 29.127 | 168.833 |
| 17 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Freeway Insurance Chevrolet | 29.172 | 168.573 |
| 18 | 41 | Cole Custer | Autodesk/HaasTooling Add-In Ford | 29.196 | 168.434 |
| 19 | 43 | Erik Jones | Dollar Tree Toyota | 29.216 | 168.319 |
| 20 | 88 | Shane Van Gisbergen # (P) | WeatherTech Chevrolet | 29.223 | 168.278 |
| 21 | 9 | Chase Elliott (P) | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 29.226 | 168.261 |
| 22 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Black’s Tire Chevrolet | 29.234 | 168.215 |
| 23 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Morgan & Morgan Chevrolet | 29.235 | 168.209 |
| 24 | 38 | Zane Smith | TitleMax Ford | 29.245 | 168.152 |
| 25 | 71 | Michael McDowell | Delaware Life Chevrolet | 29.249 | 168.129 |
| 26 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | Chili’s Ride the ‘Dente Chevrolet | 29.249 | 168.129 |
| 27 | 60 | Ryan Preece | Trimble Ford | 29.254 | 168.1 |
| 28 | 34 | Todd Gilliland | Grillo’s Pickles Ford | 29.263 | 168.048 |
| 29 | 48 | Alex Bowman (P) | Ally Chevrolet | 29.269 | 168.014 |
| 30 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota | 29.327 | 167.682 |
| 31 | 10 | Ty Dillon | Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet | 29.338 | 167.619 |
| 32 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | BuildSubmarines.com Ford | 29.401 | 167.26 |
| 33 | 35 | Riley Herbst # | Chumba Casino Toyota | 29.445 | 167.01 |
| 34 | 4 | Noah Gragson | Long John Silver’s Ford | 29.511 | 166.636 |
| 35 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Pudgy Penguins Chevrolet | 29.663 | 165.782 |
| 36 | 51 | Cody Ware | Parts Plus Ford | 29.997 | 163.936 |
| 37 | 44 | Derek Kraus | Chevrolet | 30.451 | 161.492 |
| 38 | 66 | Timmy Hill(i) | Garage 66 Ford | 31.025 | 158.504 |
