Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team are starting out on the right foot by earning the Pole Award for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship race at Phoenix Raceway. Hamlin coursed the one-mile oval in 26.914 seconds to earn his fifth first-place start this season.
His fellow Championship Four contenders will start second, third and 12th. William Byron and the No. 24 Rick Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team ran a lap of 26.596 seconds to qualify outside of Row 1. Right behind him was his HMS teammate of Kyle Larson who’s lap of 26.979 seconds places him third.
Chase Briscoe and the No. 19 JGR Toyota team will roll off 12th on Sunday.
Hamlin Knows Where the Load Lies
Hamlin still hasn’t won a NASCAR Cup Series Championship after two decades of NCS racing. Starting first for the 312-lap race is a great way to be one step closer to the elusive crown.
“We’re trying, we’re doing everything we can,” Hamlin said. “I’m really proud of this Toyota team. We worked hard at it, we’ve really been working hard and hopefully it will pay off tomorrow.
“We’re obviously going to be in a great starting spot there. Then, we just have to make sure we do all the right things and execute the entire day.
“Largely, that’s going to rest on my shoulders. So, I’ll do the best that I can.”
Larson Only Champion of the Four
In 2021, Larson claimed the NCS title in the No. 5 HMS Chevrolet. To date, it’s his only series’ championship and makes him the lone driver of the Championship Four eligible drivers.
Coming into the weekend, Larson shared his thoughts on what it means to even get to the finale and compete for the crown. Starting third bodes well towards the weekend’s quest for a repeat.
“I would say this is probably the best I’ve felt about what we’re bringing for the Championship 4 compared to any other year,” Larson said. “Everyone at Hendrick Motorsports went to work on getting our flat short track program better. We went to Gateway and we were super strong, and New Hampshire we were really good.
“Phoenix is somewhat similar to those places, so I feel like we’ll have a better opportunity to win a championship than we ever had in the Next Gen era.
“Making the final four is really tough to begin with. I would love to win a second championship. I’ve said this before, but I really look up to Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon and to win one more would move me closer to matching guys that I looked up to or surpass them someday.”
Briscoe Battled Tire Problems in Practice
Chase Briscoe is making his first appearance in the final four championship bid. The weekend got off to a tough start after he and the No. 19 Toyota team suffered a blown tire during the only practice session on Friday.
As a result, they were only able to get 15 minutes of track time. He was one of seven drivers who had problems with the softer Goodyear tires the manufacturer brought this weekend.
Two drivers had tire problems twice during the session.
Hamlin was fastest in the practice session and quickly made his way to the garage for adjustments when the problems increased for others.
Race time is 3 p.m. ET on NBC-TV, Peacock, MRN Radio and Sirius XM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90.
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