Denny Hamlin wins NASCAR Cup Series pole at Nashville

Hamlin's first-place qualifying effort on Saturday marks the second time in 2024 and the 42nd time in his career that he has won the pole. 

Rookie Josh Berry initially set down the lap to beat at Nashville, clocking in at a speed of just over 160 mph. However, it was Hamlin — the final driver to go out in Saturday's qualifying session — who laid down the fastest lap of the day.

With Hamlin and Christopher Bell Bell starting first and third, respectively, Nashville is proving to be a good track for the drivers of Joe Gibbs Racing. JGR driver Ty Gibbs — who was fastest in practice earlier in the day — qualified eighth, making Martin Truex Jr. the only JGR driver to not qualify inside the top 10. 

Bell will share row two with 2021 Nashville winner Kyle Larson, while Brad Keselowski will start fifth. Tyler Reddick and Daytona 500 winner William Byron will start sixth and seventh, respectively, with Gibbs, Chris Buescher and St. Louis winner Austin Cindric rounding out the top-10. 

Other notable qualifying efforts include Chase Elliott in 13th, Truex Jr. in 17th, Ryan Blaney in 18th, defending Nashville winner Ross Chastain in 20th and Corey Heim in 29th. 

Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch — all of whom are currently in a tight battle to make the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs — will start 24th, 26th and 27th, respectively. 

Tennessee native Chad Finchum will start last in Sunday's race, sharing row 19 with 2021 Xfinity Series champion Daniel Hemric. 

The Ally 400 will go green shortly after 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, with coverage on NBC, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.