Denny Hamlin wins the pole for Playoff race at Las Vegas
Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images
LAS VEGAS, Nev.—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).
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.
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.”
NASCAR Cup Series
Starting Line Up by Row
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
South Point 400
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 10/11/2025 @ 06:35 PM Eastern
Driver Date Time Speed
Track Race Record: Joey Logano 03/03/19 2:35:11 154.849
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
Row 1: 1 11 Denny Hamlin (P) ampm Toyota 29.213 184.849
2 19 Chase Briscoe (P) Bass Pro Shops Toyota 29.249 184.622
Row 2: 3 20 Christopher Bell (P) Rheem Toyota 29.255 184.584
4 9 Chase Elliott (P) NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 29.259 184.559
Row 3: 5 24 William Byron (P) Relay Payments Chevrolet 29.304 184.275
6 5 Kyle Larson (P) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 29.328 184.124
Row 4: 7 23 Bubba Wallace Robinhood Toyota 29.401 183.667
8 45 Tyler Reddick Jordan Brand Toyota 29.413 183.592
Row 5: 9 22 Joey Logano (P) Shell Pennzoil Ford 29.421 183.542
10 54 Ty Gibbs SAIA LTL Freight Toyota 29.454 183.337
Row 6: 11 17 Chris Buescher Kroger/International Delight Ford 29.537 182.822
12 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 29.540 182.803
Row 7: 13 88 Shane Van Gisbergen # Jockey New Zealand Chevrolet 29.586 182.519
14 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford 29.592 182.482
Row 8: 15 1 Ross Chastain Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet 29.594 182.469
16 60 Ryan Preece Sysco/crumbl Ford 29.626 182.272
Row 9: 17 99 Daniel Suarez Freeway Hispanic Heritage Chevrolet 29.645 182.156
18 71 Michael McDowell Delaware Life Chevrolet 29.647 182.143
Row 10: 19 43 Erik Jones Dollar Tree Toyota 29.679 181.947
20 16 AJ Allmendinger Celsius Chevrolet 29.690 181.879
Row 11: 21 41 Cole Custer HaasTooling.com Ford 29.693 181.861
22 77 Carson Hocevar Classic Collision Chevrolet 29.703 181.800
Row 12: 23 38 Zane Smith Long John Silver's Ford 29.720 181.696
24 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Real American Beer Chevrolet 29.765 181.421
Row 13: 25 3 Austin Dillon Get Bioethanol Chevrolet 29.779 181.336
26 42 John Hunter Nemechek Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota 29.842 180.953
Row 14: 27 7 Justin Haley Fly Alliance Chevrolet 29.846 180.929
28 4 Noah Gragson Rush Truck Centers Ford 29.862 180.832
Row 15: 29 21 Josh Berry Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 29.909 180.548
30 34 Todd Gilliland Love's Travel Stops Ford 30.022 179.868
Row 16: 31 2 Austin Cindric Autotrader Ford 30.089 179.468
32 8 Kyle Busch zone nicotine pouches Chevrolet 30.090 179.462
Row 17: 33 35 Riley Herbst # Hungry Jack Toyota 30.147 179.122
34 6 Brad Keselowski Nexlizet Ford 30.210 178.749
Row 18: 35 10 Ty Dillon Sugarlands x Field and Stream Chevrolet 30.321 178.094
36 51 Cody Ware Arby's Steak Nuggets Ford 30.627 176.315
Row 19: 37 44 JJ Yeley(i) Epoxy Depot Chevrolet 30.661 176.120
38 78 Katherine Legge Desnuda Chevrolet 31.644 170.648
Did Not Qualify: None.
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 17 0 Ford 12 0
Toyota 9 0
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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