AVONDALE, Ariz. — Denny Hamlin's quest to win his first career NASCAR championship will begin from the pole position.
Hamlin will lead the field to green at Phoenix Raceway in Sunday's winner-take-all finale. The Cup will be awarded to the highest finisher among Hamlin, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe, and William Byron and Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports.
“A fast car is still going to make it to the front,” Hamlin said of his challengers. “It's an advantage, but it's small.”
Larson is the only driver in the championship field with a title, while two-time reigning Daytona 500 winner Byron is back in the final four for the third consecutive year. Briscoe is making his title race debut and Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 winner considered the best NASCAR driver to never win a championship, is back in the field for the first time since 2021.
Hamlin turned a lap at 133.759 mph in his Toyota to earn the top starting spot, and with it comes the first choice of pit stall.
“We're obviously going to be in a great starting spot and at this point we've just got to make sure we do all the right things,” said Hamlin, who is seeking his first title in his 20th full season driving for Gibbs.
Byron qualified second at 133.551 and Larson qualified third at 133.437 in their Chevrolets. Briscoe wound up 12th, lowest of the title contenders, at 132.680.
This is at least the sixth time in Hamlin's career he's had a chance at the championship and so far he's come up empty. Hamlin spun in the 2010 finale, had a bad pit stop in 2014, overheated because the team put too much tape on the front grille in 2019, and then strategy or lack of speed cost him in 2020 and 2021.
He goes into the race with a series-high six wins this season after an offseason crew chief change he opposed. Joe Gibbs Racing was going to lose crew chief Chris Gayle if it didn't move him, so he was assigned to Hamlin as Chris Gabehart was moved into management. Hamlin did not want to lose Gabehart, the crew chief who has extracted the most out of Hamlin in these later years of his career, and was openly critical of the decision.
But Gayle adapted quickly, has advanced a car to the final four for the first time in his career, and now could be the crew chief to finally lead Hamlin to a title.
“There are four really good cars, really good teams, really good crew chiefs. I just want to win the race and be the champion," Gayle said. “It’s not necessarily anything for me to come in and get it for Denny kind of thing. Would it be extra sweet with Denny just because I know what he’s gone through and been close? Yes. I don’t know that it changes anything.”
Hamlin won the playoff race at Las Vegas last month to earn his spot in the championship, and it was his milestone 60th win of his career and tied him for 10th on the all-time win list. He'd been urgently chasing the mark because it was his personal consolation prize for not having a Cup title and he wanted to do it before his father, who is battling a serious health issue, dies.
Hamlin told The Associated Press this week that he badly wants to win Sunday because, “I know for a fact this is my last chance for my dad to see it. I don’t want him going and never getting to see the moment.”
CBS 6 provides Central Virginia with the most experienced local TV sports coverage in town. Count on Lane Casadonte and Sean Robertson for the most in-depth local sports coverage.
