Denny Hamlin wins Pocono pole award, full Cup Series qualifying results

According to NASCAR Insights, this is a pretty historic pole. Hamlin is now tied for the most all-time at Pocono (five). He is also the oldest pole-sitter since Matt Kenseth at Richmond in 2017. Pretty significant.

Here are the full qualifying results. A few surprises, as a few cars didn’t get to make a lap. William Byron wrecked during his attempt.

Hendrick Motorsports has just missed completely this weekend. Chase Elliott was the top driver for the organization in qualifying. He will start P18. Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, and William Byron will start P24, P25, and P31, respectively. A long day ahead of that group for Sunday.

Don’t look now, by the way. Carson Hocevar qualified P3. Another high-speed track, the same kind of track that he has done so well on the last five weeks. Is it going to be a good weekend for Hocevar or another controversial one?

Denny Hamlin leading field to green at Pocono

In 2006, Denny Hamlin made his name in the Cup Series with his sweep of Pocono Raceway that year. In both races, he won he pole and later went on to win the race. Since then, he has won five more times at the Tricky Triangle and won three more pole awards.

Technically, Hamlin started on the pole and won the race in 2022. That was before his post-race disqualification. No matter where he starts at this track, he almost always finds his way back to the front of the field. Sunday is going to be a little easier in terms of having to race up through the field. He’s already in the front!

These Pocono races can get weird at the end. Late cautions or fuel mileage, or any number of weird happenings, can pop up. Denny Hamlin is hoping to avoid the wackiness that the triangle produces and make this an open-and-shut race from start to finish.