TOYOTA RACING – Denny Hamlin
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes
DOVER, Del. (May 16, 2026) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to the media on Saturday after winning the pole for the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race from Dover Motor Speedway.
It is his second career All-Star Race pole. He won the pole in 2015 and drove to his only All-Star Race victory.
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Progressive Insurance Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Can you talk about your lap and your spin to getting the pole?
“Yeah, it was quite eventful for sure. I was trying to get an extra rep there on the bottom. I saw so many guys having issues leaving pit road, so I tried to get an extra rep there and it just, I mean, I just spun out. I don’t know. I didn’t think I was being that aggressive but spun out. At that point, just tried to minimize the damage. I mean, I did do some splitter, did do some underbody damage to it. Flat spotted the tires. That wasn’t ideal, but then I just committed to run the lap as hard as I could, and it was still good enough.”
Do you like this qualifying format?
“Yeah, I think it really challenges you. I mean, this is my first – I think the pole I had before was because of the pit crew, if I remember right. I’ve never been close when it comes to qualifying in this type of format towards the front. I just, it’s in my DNA. I’m a little conservative on all aspects. I’m never usually P1 in any metric of coming to pit road or leaving pit road or rolling, I’m usually pretty decent, so this is a challenging format for me, and it has been for all of my career. It is a risk reward. I certainly think that it’s certainly one that challenges the driver, especially having to come in and do it cold like this, overnight, and no reps – just going. It definitely is a team effort that, you know, puts the spotlight on everybody that’s involved.”
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