Denny Hamlin Rolls To Second Straight Playoff Pole

Denny Hamlin with the Busch Light Pole Award at World Wide Technology Raceway. (HHP/Andrew Coppley photo)

MADISON, Ill. – In search of his long-awaited first NASCAR Cup Series championship, Denny Hamlin’s qualifying pace has been unmatched to open this year’s postseason stretch.

Hamlin streaked to his second pole position in as many playoff races during Busch Light Pole Qualifying Saturday evening at World Wide Technology Raceway, with a lap of 32.330 seconds (139.190 mph) in the No. 11 Progressive Toyota Camry XSE topping the charts.

The 44-year-old’s time was just .012 seconds shy of the track record, but it was still plenty good enough for his 46th career Cup Series pole and third of the season.

“It didn’t feel like a [pole-winning] lap; I honestly thought I could have done a better job for the team,” said Hamlin, who will lead the field to green at the 1.25-mile Gateway oval for the first time, and also becomes the third-oldest driver in Cup Series history to earn back-to-back poles.

“In spite of that, we were able to, very similarly to last week, make some great adjustments from where we were in practice,” noted Hamlin. “There is so much that is different from practice to qualifying when you are going for one lap – air pressures at a track like this are dramatically different, certainly, as is the intensity [with] which I drive is a lot different in practice than qualifying.

“But the team gave me all of the adjustments that I needed to have a really good handling car there, and we were able to capitalize on it.”

Joining Hamlin on the front row for the Enjoy Illinois 300 will be Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson, whose No. 5 Chevrolet went out just before Hamlin and turned in a time of 32.351 seconds (139.099 mph).

Larson’s front-row start marks his best qualifying effort since the Coca-Cola 600 in May, but it’s his third straight race lining up inside the top five, a welcomed sign of progress for the 2021 Cup Series champion.

“This is really great; I think our team needed a run like this more than anything,” said Larson. “We haven’t been able to celebrate a whole lot recently, so we’ll absolutely take a front-row start at Gateway. My car felt pretty good from practice, and I think there’s still room for it to be even better come race time.

“Hopefully we can be one spot better Sunday. It’s difficult here, similar to Pocono, to get the right feel out of a race car. You’re never going to feel quite right at either end, but you do your best to marry the two [sides of the lap]. We learned some things from the tire test a few months ago, and we’ll see what all pays off over the long run.”

Southern 500 winner Chase Briscoe, the only driver already assured a place in the second round of the playoffs, starts third alongside Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain.

Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, the fastest Ford driver in qualifying and the near winner at Gateway a year ago, filled out the top five starters as playoff contenders locked out the first nine spots on the grid.

Regular season champion William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, and defending Gateway victor Austin Cindric qualified sixth through ninth, respectively.

Front Row Motorsports’ Zane Smith, the early pace setter in the first half of qualifying, was the only driver not in championship contention to crack the top 10 and will roll off 10th on Sunday.

Notables deeper in the starting lineup include playoff drivers Josh Berry (12th), Joey Logano (13th), Bubba Wallace (14th), Austin Dillon (15th), Shane van Gisbergen (18th), and Chase Elliott (19th), as well as veterans and former champions Kyle Busch (22nd) and Brad Keselowski (23rd).

Alex Bowman starts lowest among the 16 playoff drivers after a disappointing 25th-place effort in time trials.

Broadcast coverage of Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 is slated for 3 p.m. ET, live on USA, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

Full Starting Lineup