Denny Hamlin will start Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series championship race from pole position after edging two of his championship rivals.
The Joe Gibbs Racing star is chasing his first-ever Cup Series title on Sunday afternoon and showed impressive pace in qualifying, setting the fastest lap time of 26.914 seconds around Phoenix Raceway.
Fellow Championship 4 drivers William Byron and Kyle Larson came closest to matching Hamlin's time, although the Hendrick Motorsports duo were still 0.042 and 0.065 seconds away, respectively.
Meanwhile, it was a more challenging session for the remaining Championship 4 driver, Chase Briscoe, who could only put his No. 19 Toyota in 12th spot for tomorrow's green flag.
Elsewhere in Phoenix, Team Penske duo Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney round out the top five, with Carson Hocevar, Josh Berry, Alex Bowman, Chris Buescher and Joey Logano rounding out the top 10.
With that said, let's take a look at the full qualifying results below!
NASCAR Cup Series: Who is on pole at Phoenix?
After Saturday evening's qualifying session at Phoenix Raceway, here are all the times and starting lineup for the 2025 Cup Series championship race.
| Pos | Driver (Car No.) | Team | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denny Hamlin (#11) | Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | 26.914s |
| 2 | William Byron (#24) | Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | +0.042s |
| 3 | Kyle Larson (#5) | Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | +0.065s |
| 4 | Austin Cindric (#2) | Team Penske Ford | +0.103s |
| 5 | Ryan Blaney (#12) | Team Penske Ford | +0.115s |
| 6 | Carson Hocevar (#77) | Spire Motorsports Chevrolet | +0.125s |
| 7 | Josh Berry (#4) | Stewart-Haas Racing Ford | +0.179s |
| 8 | Alex Bowman (#48) | Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | +0.180s |
| 9 | Chris Buescher (#17) | RFK Racing Ford | +0.197s |
| 10 | Joey Logano (#22) | Team Penske Ford | +0.205s |
| 11 | Kyle Busch (#8) | Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet | +0.215s |
| 12 | Chase Briscoe (#19) | Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | +0.219s |
| 13 | Ross Chastain (#1) | Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet | +0.223s |
| 14 | Daniel Suárez (#99) | Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet | +0.229s |
| 15 | Erik Jones (#43) | Legacy Motor Club Toyota | +0.240s |
| 16 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr (#47) | JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet | +0.258s |
| 17 | Chase Elliott (#9) | Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet | +0.262s |
| 18 | Noah Gragson (#10) | Stewart-Haas Racing Ford | +0.270s |
| 19 | Brad Keselowski (#6) | RFK Racing Ford | +0.275s |
| 20 | Christopher Bell (#20) | Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | +0.282s |
| 21 | Ryan Preece (#41) | Stewart-Haas Racing Ford | +0.283s |
| 22 | Zane Smith (#71) | Spire Motorsports Chevrolet | +0.304s |
| 23 | Bubba Wallace (#23) | 23XI Racing Toyota | +0.305s |
| 24 | Tyler Reddick (#45) | 23XI Racing Toyota | +0.306s |
| 25 | Ty Gibbs (#54) | Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota | +0.324s |
| 26 | Austin Dillon (#3) | Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet | +0.329s |
| 27 | Cole Custer (#51) | Rick Ware Racing Ford | +0.330s |
| 28 | John H. Nemechek (#42) | Legacy Motor Club Toyota | +0.337s |
| 29 | Justin Haley (#7) | Spire Motorsports Chevrolet | +0.386s |
| 30 | Todd Gilliland (#38) | Front Row Motorsports Ford | +0.392s |
| 31 | Shane Van Gisbergen (#88) | Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet | +0.402s |
| 32 | Riley Herbst (#15) | Rick Ware Racing Ford | +0.445s |
| 33 | Cody Ware (#37) | Kaulig Racing Chevrolet | +0.531s |
| 34 | Ty Dillon (#16) | Kaulig Racing Chevrolet | +0.608s |
| 35 | JJ Yeley (#44) | NY Racing Team Chevrolet | +0.806s |
| 36 | Casey Mears (#66) | MBM Motorsports Ford | +0.851s |
| 37 | Michael McDowell (#34) | Front Row Motorsports Ford | +1.045s |
| 38 | AJ Allmendinger (#13) | Kaulig Racing Chevrolet | N/A |
