Joe Gibbs Racing put together a historic NASCAR Cup Series qualifying run on Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. For the first time in the team’s history, JGR will have its four cars start 1-2-3-4 following an impressive showing in Saturday’s qualifying session.
Denny Hamlin, winner of the last two Cup Series races at Las Vegas, earned the pole for Sunday’s South Point 400. Ty Gibbs will roll off second, followed by Christopher Bell in third and Chase Briscoe in fourth.
Hamlin enters Sunday’s race 26 points behind championship leader Kyle Larson in what will be the fifth race of the Chase. The driver of the No. 11 is seeking an elusive first Cup championship in his 21st full-time season of Cup competition.
The top 14 starting positions were all taken by Chase drivers. Six of the top-10 starters were Toyota drivers, three of them were Chevrolets and Austin Cindric was the sole Ford that qualified in the top 10.
Alex Bowman ranked highest among non-Chase competitors in 15th. Chase driver Ryan Blaney rolls off 20th for Sunday’s race, while Team Penske teammate Joey Logano starts from the 23rd spot — lowest of all Chase drivers.
Full NASCAR Cup Series Las Vegas Qualifying Results
- Denny Hamlin (Chase driver)
- Ty Gibbs (Chase driver)
- Christopher Bell (Chase driver)
- Chase Briscoe (Chase driver)
- Tyler Reddick (Chase driver)
- Kyle Larson (Chase driver)
- Austin Cindric (Chase driver)
- William Byron (Chase driver)
- Bubba Wallace (Chase driver)
- Carson Hocevar (Chase driver)
- Daniel Suarez (Chase driver)
- Ryan Preece (Chase driver)
- Chase Elliott (Chase driver)
- Chris Buescher (Chase driver)
- Alex Bowman
- Brad Keselowski
- Ross Chastain
- Michael McDowell
- AJ Allmendinger
- Ryan Blaney (Chase driver)
- Erik Jones
- Riley Herbst
- Joey Logano (Chase driver)
- Cole Custer
- Shane van Gisbergen
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Todd Gilliland
- Austin Dillon
- Ty Dillon
- Zane Smith
- Connor Zilisch
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Austin Hill
- Cody Ware
- Josh Berry
- Noah Gragson
Denny Hamlin Makes Statement by Winning Vegas Pole
Through four races of the Chase, regular season champion Denny Hamlin has largely underperformed. The JGR star got things back on track last Sunday at Kansas with a third-place run, yet lost 25 points to points leader Kyle Larson.
Ahead of Sunday’s South Point 400, the 45-year-old found some daylight and made a statement by capturing the pole position. Hamlin is seeking his third straight Cup win at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It was the 64-time Cup Series winner’s fifth pole of the 2026 season.
Hamlin has totaled four victories in the 2026 season, including Las Vegas earlier this year. The Virginia native has a 3-race win streak stretch over the summer with triumphs at Nashville, Michigan and Pocono.
Hamlin overtook Tyler Reddick, who drives for his co-owned 23XI Racing team, for the points lead after Sonoma. He ended the regular season first in the points standings to take the top seed to begin the Chase.
In his 21st full-time season of NASCAR Cup Series competition, Hamlin is seeking his first Cup title. He was three laps away from a championship last year at Phoenix until a caution flag followed by a four-tire pit stop thwarted his chances.
Joe Gibbs Racing Makes History With Impressive Las Vegas Qualifying Outing