{"id":52978,"date":"2025-06-21T14:30:25","date_gmt":"2025-06-21T19:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=52978"},"modified":"2025-06-22T11:52:42","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T16:52:42","slug":"back-with-a-bang-hamlin-grabs-pole-at-pocono-after-welcoming-newborn-son","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/21\/back-with-a-bang-hamlin-grabs-pole-at-pocono-after-welcoming-newborn-son\/","title":{"rendered":"Back with a Bang: Hamlin grabs pole at Pocono after welcoming newborn son"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

Perhaps not too surprisingly, Pocono (Pa.) Raceway\u2019s all-time winningest driver, Denny Hamlin was fastest in the field Saturday to earn pole position for Sunday\u2019s The Great American Getaway 400 (2 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).<\/p>\n

\"\"

Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Progressive Toyota, poses for photos after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway on June 21, 2025 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Hamlin\u2019s Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota will take the green flag to start the NASCAR Cup Series race and historically-speaking, no one has led the field to more checkered flags; his seven wins at Pocono are most in history. And he\u2019s finished first or second in five of the last eight races on the 2.5-mile unique three-turn track.<\/p>\n

Hamlin\u2019s lap of 172.599 mph was .083-second faster than Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing\u2019s Chris Buescher in the No. 17 Ford. Spire Motorsports\u2019 Carson Hocevar (Chevrolet), Legacy Motor Club\u2019s John Hunter Nemechek (Toyota) and Haas Factory Team\u2019s Cole Custer (Ford) rounded out the top-five in qualifying.<\/p>\n

It marks a big return for the season\u2019s three-time race winner Hamlin who is back on the grid after receiving a waiver from NASCAR, missing last weekend\u2019s inaugural race in Mexico City to be home for the birth of his son.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe typically can step up from practice,” said Hamlin, who was not even among the top-10 fastest drivers in the afternoon\u2019s practice session. \u201cWe had good adjustments so never really panicked too much<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd obviously because I was a little more rested than the rest of the field right there, I was able to show a little more speed,” he added with a smile and nod to missing last week\u2019s race.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery week we have a good shot to win and this team just knows what I need out of the car. The cars and tires have changed over time, but you still make speed at this track the same way. I was able to execute there in qualifying and that\u2019s a good start for us.”<\/p>\n

Of note, the current NASCAR Cup Series championship leader, Hendrick Motorsports\u2019 William Byron crashed his No. 24 Chevrolet late in the qualifying session. The team had to roll out a back-up car for Sunday\u2019s race so Byron will start from the rear of the field.<\/p>\n

Hamlin\u2019s JGR teammates, Chase Briscoe and Ty Gibbs will start sixth and seventh and Tyler Reddick, who drives the 23XI Racing Toyota co-owned by Hamlin was eighth fastest. JRG\u2019s Christopher Bell will line up ninth on the grid and Trackhouse Racing\u2019s Daniel Suarez will roll off 10th. Six of the top-10 cars were Toyotas.<\/p>\n

Defending race winner, Ryan Blaney was 20th quickest in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford.<\/p>\n

Four drivers did not make qualifying runs, including Reddick\u2019s 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace, whose team rolled his car off the line just before his run. Wood Brothers\u2019 Josh Berry, Rick Ware Racing\u2019s Cody Ware and NY Racing\u2019s Brennan Poole also did not make qualifying laps.<\/p>\n

NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VISITPA.COM<\/b><\/p>\n

Pocono Raceway<\/b><\/p>\n

Long Pond, Pennsylvania<\/b><\/p>\n

Saturday, June 21, 2025<\/b><\/p>\n

                1. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 172.599 mph.<\/p>\n

                2. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, 172.325 mph.<\/p>\n

                3. (77) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 171.825 mph.<\/p>\n

                4. (42) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 171.789 mph.<\/p>\n

                5. (41) Cole Custer, Ford, 171.638 mph.<\/p>\n

                6. (19) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 171.612 mph.<\/p>\n

                7. (54) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 171.546 mph.<\/p>\n

                8. (45) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 171.429 mph.<\/p>\n

                9. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 171.347 mph.<\/p>\n

                10. (99) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 171.002 mph.<\/p>\n

                11. (43) Erik Jones, Toyota, 170.999 mph.<\/p>\n

                12. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 170.866 mph.<\/p>\n

                13. (60) Ryan Preece, Ford, 170.691 mph.<\/p>\n

                14. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 170.516 mph.<\/p>\n

                15. (38) Zane Smith, Ford, 170.445 mph.<\/p>\n

                16. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 170.419 mph.<\/p>\n

                17. (4) Noah Gragson, Ford, 170.413 mph.<\/p>\n

                18. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 170.390 mph.<\/p>\n

                19. (2) Austin Cindric, Ford, 170.338 mph.<\/p>\n

                20. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 170.335 mph.<\/p>\n

                21. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 170.258 mph.<\/p>\n

                22. (7) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 170.046 mph.<\/p>\n

                23. (88) Shane Van Gisbergen #, Chevrolet, 169.933 mph.<\/p>\n

                24. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 169.920 mph.<\/p>\n

                25. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 169.882 mph.<\/p>\n

                26. (8) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 169.507 mph.<\/p>\n

                27. (10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 169.469 mph.<\/p>\n

                28. (71) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 169.364 mph.<\/p>\n

                29. (35) Riley Herbst #, Toyota, 169.303 mph.<\/p>\n

                30. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 167.720 mph.<\/p>\n

                31. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet, 156.128 mph.<\/p>\n

                32. (34) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 152.076 mph.<\/p>\n

                33. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 140.456 mph.<\/p>\n

                34. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

                35. (21) Josh Berry, Ford, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

                36. (51) Cody Ware, Ford, 0.000 mph.<\/p>\n

                37. (44) Brennan Poole(i), Chevrolet, 0.000 mph<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Perhaps not too surprisingly, Pocono (Pa.) Raceway\u2019s all-time winningest driver, Denny Hamlin was fastest in the field Saturday to earn pole position for Sunday\u2019s The Great American Getaway 400 (2 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Hamlin\u2019s Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota will take the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":52974,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[41,16,252],"class_list":["post-52978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-denny-hamlin","tag-nascar","tag-pocono-raceway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2221362874-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-dMu","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52978"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52982,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52978\/revisions\/52982"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}