Denny Hamlin may have missed last weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series event in Mexico City, but a week off hasn’t slowed the momentum for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver in any way, shape, or form.
The Chesterfield, Virginia-native put together a masterful lap in Saturday’s single-vehicle qualifying session from Pocono Raceway, beating the field by nearly a tenth of a second to earn his fifth pole at the 2.5-mile racetrack.
It’s the 44th career pole for Hamlin in what will be 702 starts in the NASCAR Cup Series when the field takes the green for Sunday’s The Great American Getaway 400.
“Yes and no,” Hamlin said when asked by Marty Snider if winning the pole was a surprise considering his practice speed. “We typically can step up from practice, and we make good adjustments, so [we] never really panic too much. Because I was a little more rested than the field, right there, I was able to get a little speed.”
When the green flag drops on Sunday at Pocono Raceway, Hamlin will not just be hunting down his fourth win of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series campaign, but also his record-extending eighth at Pocono.
Chris Buescher, driving the No. 17 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for RFK Racing, will roll from second place on Sunday, a great boost for the team that sits fairly close to the NASCAR Cup Series postseason bubble.
Qualifying also brought with it some interesting surprises, with Carson Hocevar and Spire Motorsports earning third spot, with John Hunter Nemechek (LEGACY MOTOR CLUB) and Cole Custer (Haas Factory Team) rounding out the top five.
For Nemechek, a fourth-place starting spot matches a career-best in the NASCAR Cup Series. In 2022, the Mooresville, North Carolina-native qualified fourth at Homestead-Miami, while driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry XSE for 23XI Racing.
Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, and Daniel Suarez rounded out the top-10.
STARTING LINEUP: 2025 NCS The Great American Getaway 400
Other notable drivers starting outside the top-10 in Sunday’s event include Joey Logano (12th), Brad Keselowski (14th), Chase Elliott (18th), Austin Cindric (19th), Ryan Blaney (21st), Shane Van Gisbergen (23rd), Kyle Larson (24th), Alex Bowman (25th), Kyle Busch (26th), and William Byron (31st).
William Byron, the points leader in the NASCAR Cup Series, looked to have incredible speed throughout the afternoon at Pocono Raceway, but made a small mistake on his qualifying lap that caused him to wreck his No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet.
Byron and Hendrick Motorsports will be going to a backup car, and despite being credited with a 31st-place starting spot, will have to start at the rear of the field in Sunday’s 400-miler from Pocono Raceway.
Four drivers failed to post a qualifying lap in Saturday’s session for various reasons.
Brennan Poole, piloting the No. 44 Chevrolet for NY Racing Team, failed pre-qualifying inspection three times on Saturday, and was barred from qualifying. The team will also lose pit selection and be forced to do a pass-through penalty on the first lap of the race.
Josh Berry suffered damage to the rear diffuser of the No. 21 Ford Mustang in practice, forcing the team to change the entire rear clip of the racecar. The Wood Brothers Racing team wasn’t able to get back out on track to qualify.
Bubba Wallace had a starter issue on his No. 23 Toyota Camry XSE for 23XI Racing, and was unable to get his McDonald’s-sponsored entry on the racetrack to post a lap.
Finally, Cody Ware didn’t make a qualifying lap after crashing in practice. Rick Ware Racing says the team will try to fix the damage to the No. 51 Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead of Sunday’s event.
