Joe Gibbs Racing dominated qualifying for the Round of 8 playoff opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Denny Hamlin secured pole position with a fast lap of 29.213s, besting teammate Chase Briscoe by 0.036s and teammate Christopher Bell by 0.042s.
“I felt good about it,” Hamlin told TruTV. “There wasn’t a whole lot left out there for it, but great job to get my car good. It was good in the short run practice as well, but we gotta work on it in the long run for tomorrow. Saturday has really been our Achilles heel at this race track, and that’s a great way to turn that around.”
On what he needs to contend for the win in the 400-mile race to come, Hamlin said: “Going through the swings of this race race track — it’s going to go through so many transitions from Saturday to the beginning of Sunday and the end of Sunday. Trying to prepare and set up your car for the end of Sunday, but having to deal with it on Saturday is always a challenge for us at this race track. But the team did a great job of putting a big ‘ol bandaid on it today, and hopefully tomorrow is going to be better.
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Photo by: Logan Riely / Getty Images
Hamlin now has 47 career poles and four this year. He is seeking a coveted 60th career victory, and winning this race would mean an automatic ticket into the championship finale for any one of the eight title finalists.
Behind the JGR trio are three Hendrick drivers, with Chase Elliott fourth, William Byron fifth, and Kyle Larson sixth.
The top ‘spoilers’ in the lineup are Hamlin’s own drivers, as the 23XI Racing teammates Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick qualified seventh and eighth, respectively.
The final spot inside the top ten will be occupied by another JGR driver, as Ty Gibbs timed in tenth.
2023 Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney was the only playoff driver to qualify outside the top ten, lining up 14th on the grid.
There were no incidents during the qualifying session. While track position is critical and ten of the last eleven LVMS winners started inside the top ten, the pole-sitter actually hasn’t won this race since Kyle Busch in 2009 — the only time it has happened.
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