Hamlin Dominates: Pole Position at Gateway and Leads NASCAR Playoffs

Denny Hamlin Secures Pole at World Wide Technology Raceway

Pilot Denny Hamlin kept his perfect streak in qualifying during the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, obtaining the pole position on Saturday at the World Wide Technology Raceway. This achievement represents the 46th pole in Hamlin’s career and the third of this season for the Joe Gibbs Racing star, who also led the qualifying in last week’s playoff race at Darlington Raceway.

“We made some excellent adjustments from where we were in practice,” Hamlin commented, who completed a lap at 139.190 mph with his No. 11 Toyota. “That’s what they did so well last week for qualifying. Now we have an excellent track position and we just have to maintain it, and we’ll be in good shape.”

Denny Hamlin

Kyle Larson secured the second spot on the grid, alongside Hamlin, achieving his first top-ten result in qualifying at the 1.25-mile oval east of St. Louis.

• Chase Briscoe qualified third.
• Ross Chastain.
• Ryan Blaney.
• William Byron.
• Tyler Reddick.
• Christopher Bell.
• Austin Cindric completed the top nine, all playoff drivers, for Sunday’s 300-mile race at Gateway.

This result contrasts sharply with the start of the playoffs in Darlington, where only four championship-eligible drivers finished in the top ten in the Southern 500, a historic low for an inaugural playoff race. Among the disappointments, Larson, whose 19th-place finish at Darlington extended a five-race drought without a top-five result.

“I think our team needs it more than anything,” said the 2021 Cup champion. “We haven’t been able to celebrate much, so we’ll definitely celebrate a front-row start at Gateway. It’s been a tough and inconsistent couple of months, so even qualifying well feels really good.”

Kyle Larson

Alex Bowman, who hasn’t finished higher than 13th at Gateway, qualified 25th, being the only playoff driver to start outside the top 20. Bowman is tied with Josh Berry (who qualified 12th) for last place in the points standings among the 16 playoff drivers.