MADISON, Ill. — Denny Hamlin remained perfect in qualifying during this year’s NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, capturing the pole position Saturday at World Wide Technology Raceway for Sunday’s 300-mile race at the venue near St. Louis.
It’s the 46th career pole and third this season for the 44-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing star, who also qualified first for last weekend’s playoff opener, the Southern 500 at South Carolina’s Darlington Raceway.
“We made some great adjustments from where we were in practice,” said Hamlin, who turned a 139.190 mph lap in his No. 11 Toyota. “That’s what they did so well last week for qualifying. Now we’ve got great track position, and just got to maintain it and we’ll be in good shape.”
Hamlin will be joined on the front row by 2021 Cup Series champion Kyle Larson, who clocked 139.099 in his Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet. It’s the first time Larson has qualified in the top 10 on the 1.25-mile oval.
Chase Briscoe qualified third in another JGR Toyota and will be joined on the second row by Ross Chastain in a Trackhouse Racing Chevy.
Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney was fifth in the best qualifying result for a Ford driver Saturday, followed by Hendrick’s William Byron, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, JGR’s Christopher Bell and Penske’s Austin Cindric as playoff drivers took the top nine starting spots.
It was a notable departure from how the postseason began at Darlington. Only four of the 16 championship-eligible drivers finished in the top 10 of the Southern 500, a record low for a playoff opener.
Among the disappointments was Larson, whose finish of 19th at Darlington continued a five-race drought without a top-five result.
“I think our team needs it more than anything. We haven’t been able to celebrate a whole lot, so we will definitely celebrate a front-row starting spot,” Larson said, adding that “it’s been a rough, inconsistent couple of months, so even just qualifying good feels really nice.”
Hendrick’s Alex Bowman, who has finished no higher than 13th at World Wide Technology Raceway, qualified 25th as the only playoff driver who will start outside the top 20. Bowman is tied with Wood Brothers Racing’s Josh Berry (who qualified 12th) for last in the points standings among the 16 playoff drivers.
The third race of the opening round is next Saturday night at Tennessee’s Bristol Motor Speedway, where four drivers will be eliminated from the playoffs. Briscoe has already advanced to the round of 12 after winning at Darlington for his second straight victory in the Southern 500, one of NASCAR’s crown-jewel races.