NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin. Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Denny Hamlin suffers vicious crash in Brickyard 400 qualifying

By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated Jul 26, 2025 3:41 PM ET

The favorite to win Sunday's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will have quite a mountain to climb.

Denny Hamlin, who was fastest in practice at IMS on Saturday and is searching for his first Brickyard 400 win, suffered a vicious impact during Saturday's NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session.

Hamlin was the last car to make a lap during the session, but the No. 11 Toyota broke loose on the exit of turn 2. After tapping the outside wall, he spun into the grass before making hard contact with the inside wall.

There's trouble for @dennyhamlin on his qualifying lap! pic.twitter.com/mhYh8tzWLL
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 26, 2025

Hamlin did not produce a qualifying time and will be forced to go to a backup car for Sunday's race. The 58-time Cup Series winner will start last (39th) on Sunday.

Hamlin did climb out of the car after the accident.

Meanwhile, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Chase Briscoe, secured the pole position for Sunday's race. The top five in qualifying were swept by Toyota, with 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace joining Briscoe on the front row.

The Brickyard 400 will go green shortly after 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, with coverage on TNT, the IMS Radio Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Samuel Stubbs

Hailing from the same neck of the woods as NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, Samuel has been covering NASCAR for Yardbarker since February 2024. He has been a member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) since October of 2024. When he’s not writing about racing, Samuel covers Arkansas Razorback basketball for Yardbarker

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