AVONDALE, Ariz. — Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin issued a strong statement for his 2025 championship intentions Saturday afternoon by claiming pole position for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race.
Two of the other three championship-eligible drivers — Hendrick Motorsports teammates William Byron and Kyle Larson — claimed the other top three positions in the qualifying session. The fourth, Hamlin’s JGR teammate Chase Briscoe, will roll off the grid from 12th position in Sunday’s Championship Race.
Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota turned in a lap of 133.759 mph around the one-mile Phoenix oval — just .042 of a second faster than Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet.
It marks the sixth pole position for Hamlin on the season — 48th of his career — and perhaps stands to be one of the most impactful.
“We’ve really been working hard and hope it will pay off tomorrow,” said the 44-year-old Hamlin, a 60-time winner whose six trophies this season are double that of any championship competitor.
“We’re obviously going to be in a great starting spot there, but then obviously we’ve got to make sure we’re doing all the right things the entire day and largely that’s going to rest on my shoulders. And I’m going to do the best that I can.”
Hamlin said winning the pole was certainly a positive, but that it did not necessarily provide a huge advantage on the field as close as his competitors typically are to him. But he conceded, the strong qualifying showing among the championship contenders was indicative of the intensity necessary in this high-stakes, one-race manner that NASCAR decides the title.
Among the four championship-eligible drivers, only the 2021 series champion Larson has hoisted the sport’s most acclaimed trophy by winning from pole position at Phoenix Raceway.
His teammate Byron, this year’s Daytona 500 winner, comes into the race as the regular-season champion and makes his third consecutive appearance in the championship race. Hamlin’s teammate, the 30-year-old Briscoe, is the only one new to being among the final four competing for the championship.
“Certainly, it’s always an advantage to qualify on the pole, there’s never a disadvantage to starting first and having the No. 1 pit stall,” Hamlin said. “So, I don’t know if it directly correlates, but it’s always an advantage.
“Just try to do everything you can to execute,” Hamlin added. “… I just truly believe that tomorrow that the best cars, whoever it is and it could be somebody who qualified 20th, could make their way to the front with the tire and track surface we have right now.
“I think it’s going to be a battle amongst us four with a few others sprinkled in there. It’s going to be fun to watch.”
–Holly Cain, special to Field Level Media
