By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

Denny Hamlin wins the pole for Playoff race at Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS – Denny Hamlin led a Joe Gibbs Racing sweep of the top qualifying positions for Sunday’s South Point 400 Playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (5:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 ampm Toyota, poses for photos after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 11, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images)

Hamlin’s No. 11 JGR Toyota claimed the Busch Light pole position Saturday afternoon with a lap of 184.849 mph around the 1.5-mile Vegas high banks – just bettering teammates Chase Briscoe in the No. 19 Toyota and Christopher Bell in the No. 20 Toyota Camry. All three are current NASCAR Cup Series Playoff drivers. It is Hamlin’s first pole at Las Vegas.

And it’s the second time this season Toyota has swept the top-three qualifying spots  – the last time was in Indianapolis this summer, when the make swept the top-five. It’s the 25th time in Toyota’s history it has swept the top three starting positions on the grid.

“I felt good about it truthfully,” said Hamlin, the 2021 Las Vegas Playoff race winner and the current championship leader. “There wasn’t a whole lot left out there for it. But a great job by this team to get my car good. It was good in the short run in practice as well, got to work on it for the long run for tomorrow.

“But Saturday [qualifying] has always been our Achilles heel at this race track and that’s a great way to turn that around.”

Heavy winds affected both practice and qualifying sessions with drivers reporting substantial headwinds on the backstretch.

Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 ampm Toyota, drives during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 11, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images)

The eight Playoff drivers starting this three-race penultimate round of competition all had solid qualifying performances, however. Beyond the Gibbs front trio, Hendrick Motorsports Chase Elliott was fourth quickest, followed by his Hendrick Chevrolet teammates William Byron and Kyle Larson – a three-time winner at Vegas.

Reigning series champion and defending Las Vegas Playoff race winner Joey Logano was ninth fastest in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford. His teammate, 2023 series champ Ryan Blaney, will roll off from the 14th place position on the grid.

Ross Chastain was fastest in the opening practice session but his No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet brushed the wall and the team spent the closing minutes of the session repairing it before qualifying. He will start 15th. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs ended up fastest overall in practice and will start 10thSunday.

*DEFENDING CHAMP LOGANO’S NEW PLAYOFF LIFE

Team Penske driver Joey Logano is not only the defending series champion but also the defending race winner at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. And he comes into the weekend especially energized after a dramatic, final lap extension of his Playoff life last week at the Charlotte ROVAL where he solidified his 2025 title shot with a 20th-place finish, one position ahead of his closest challenger Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain.

With new championship “life” – so to speak – the four-time Las Vegas race winner would prefer not to make this three-race penultimate round of the Playoffs quite as suspenseful. But, Logano said Saturday, he doesn’t really care what scenario it takes to advance. As long as he advances.

The driver of the Team Penske No. 22 Ford says the result of his team’s ability to overcome tough odds is because it is made up of resilient tough people.

“You do feel a little bit more is on the line [in the Round of 8], the intensity rachets up and you feel that,” he allowed.

“But I don’t care how we get there,” continued Logano, who starts this round ranked eighth among the eight drivers (-24 points below the cutoff line). 

“I’ve always been that way. I’ve always said it’s about the big trophy at the end of the day. That’s all that matters and how we do it doesn’t matter, whether it’s no wins, five wins, I don’t care. If it’s close to the cut line or easy, it doesn’t matter. It’s all about winning the [championship] trophy.

“My message [to the team] was basically, ‘hey, we’ve made it this far, let’s not waste the opportunity.’ We’ve made it to the round of eight and t’s a great accomplishment but doesn’t mean anything if you don’t get to the championship four. And if you make it to the championship four, it doesn’t matter if you don’t win the championship.”

*FROM CONTENDER TO TROPHY HOIST FOR BELL

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell has finished runner-up in the last two Playoff races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – a scant .082-second shy of winner Kyle Larson in 2023 and finishing .662-second behind Logano last year after winning pole position and leading a dominating 155 of the race’s 267 laps.

“Certainly, this is the one that we’ve had circled,” Bell acknowledged Saturday. “We know this is a great opportunity for us to have a good day and score points. Our intermediate package has been very good from Kansas couple weeks ago even Bristol, so seems like everything is going right for us at Joe Gibbs Racing, our teammates are going really good. We know this is a big opportunity and hopefully we can to capitalize on it.”

Conceded done nothing different in preparation for this race weekend than others, just acknowledges “the stakes are much higher.”

“I definitely feel confidence and positivity every time you think of Vegas. Even though I haven’t won here. I’ve had a lot of races get away between the two Cup races the last two years and the Xfinity and truck years I have zero wins at Las Vegas, but it’s always been a strong track for me and we’ve performed really well I’d say I am excited to come here every time. One of these days we’re going to get rewarded. I don’t think the track owes us one but certainly driving for Joe Gibbs Racing I know we have great cars every time we come here.”

*NON-PLAYOFF TEAMS STILL COMPETITIVE FOR WINS

LEGACY MOTOR CLUB drivers Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek were not only steadfast in their desire to chase a first victory for the team this season, but a bit defiant to the suggestion that non-Playoff teams aren’t still competitive as the season winds down. The two have combined for six top-five finishes and 13 top-10s and are ranked 25th (Jones) and 26th (Nemechek) in the championship standings.

“Who says we’re giving up anything, we’re out here to win races,” said Nemechek, driver of the No. 42 Legacy team Toyota. “We’re out here to do the best that we possibly can for, ourselves, our team, all the men and women at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB. Yes, we’re not a part of the playoffs, yes, we’re not contending for a championship this year, but we looked at it, at least for our 42 group, we look at it as an opportunity to go out possibly spoil that but also continue to try to get better.

“We’ve made a lot of improvements over the last 10 months, I would say, at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB, at certain race tracks more than others, but we look at it at it as opportunity to continue to try and build our notebook and learn and try and going into next year to be a Playoff contender. So, these races are very important, especially with the Playoff format, being able excel in all of the playoff races if you are able to make it.

“There’s definitely an asterisk to every race track in the Playoffs for sure. I mean, obviously, there’s a level of respect there from the guys that are going through the Playoffs and contending for a championship, and you don’t want to be the one that makes a mistake and wrecks them and takes them out of championship, contention, right? But at the same time, we’re all here to race and we’re all here to provide the best possible opportunity we can for our team, ourselves, everyone, that is behind us, our partners and our team owners to go out and try to win races and put ourselves up front.”