Hamlin takes Darlington pole | RACER

NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying Results from Darlington

Darlington, SC – Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing secured the pole position for the Southern 500 with a blistering lap of 171.381 mph (28.694 seconds) during Saturday morning’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying. This achievement marks his second pole of the season and his second at Darlington, where he is a three-time race winner.

“We struggled with the balance all during race practice, so we made some good adjustments there to go one lap, and I felt like it was really good,” Hamlin commented. “The Sports Clips Toyota did everything I needed it to do, and it’s awesome to come here and get a pole.”

Chase Briscoe, the defending race champion, qualified second with a time of 171.255 mph. Josh Berry, Tyler Reddick, and Kyle Larson rounded out the top five, clocking in at 170.578 mph, 170.466 mph, and 170.012 mph, respectively. Ross Chastain (6th) and Christopher Bell (7th) followed closely, with qualifying speeds of 169.965 mph and 169.795 mph.

Notably, all of the fastest 12 qualifiers are playoff drivers as the series heads into this critical race. Bubba Wallace led playoff drivers during practice and qualified eighth at 169.660 mph. Austin Dillon and Austin Cindric completed the top ten, qualifying ninth and tenth at speeds of 169.549 mph and 169.438 mph, respectively.

Among those outside the top 12 were Joey Logano (14th), Shane van Gisbergen (20th), and Chase Elliott (21st), with Alex Bowman finishing as the lowest-qualifying playoff driver in 29th.

Further notable qualifications included Justin Haley (13th), Chris Buescher (15th), Kyle Busch (23rd), and Michael McDowell (25th), with McDowell having the second-fastest practice lap.

A total of 39 teams are entered for the Southern 500, which is set to take place Sunday at 6 p.m. ET.