Denny Hamlin has secured the pole for Sunday's Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, the first of 10 races in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE blasted to the top of the speed charts late in the session, dethroning his teammate Chase Briscoe -- who was one spot shy of becoming the first driver in NASCAR history to win pole for all four crown jewel events in a single season.
Josh Berry, Tyler Reddick, and Kyle Larson will start inside the top-five when the green flag drops on Sunday at 6:00 pm ET (USA Network).
Cook Out Southern 500 Starting Lineup:
| Row | # | Driver | Team | Time | Diff | Speed | |
| ROW 1 | 1 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing Sport Clips Toyota | 28.694 | 0.000 | 171.381 |
| 2 | 19 | Chase Briscoe | Joe Gibbs Racing Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 28.715 | 0.021 | 171.255 | |
| ROW 2 | 3 | 21 | Josh Berry | Wood Brothers Racing Motorcraft / Quick Lane Ford | 28.829 | 0.135 | 170.578 |
| 4 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing Pinnacle Toyota | 28.848 | 0.154 | 170.466 | |
| ROW 3 | 5 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 28.925 | 0.231 | 170.012 |
| 6 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing Busch Light Retro Chevrolet | 28.933 | 0.239 | 169.965 | |
| ROW 4 | 7 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing Rheem Toyota | 28.962 | 0.268 | 169.795 |
| 8 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing U.S. Air Force Toyota | 28.985 | 0.291 | 169.660 | |
| ROW 5 | 9 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing Bass Pro Shops / Winchester Chevrolet | 29.004 | 0.310 | 169.549 |
| 10 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske Discount Tire Ford | 29.023 | 0.329 | 169.438 | |
| ROW 6 | 11 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports All-Pro Auto Reconditioning Chevrolet | 29.025 | 0.331 | 169.426 |
| 12 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske Menards / Dutch Boy Ford | 29.032 | 0.338 | 169.386 | |
| ROW 7 | 13 | 7 | Justin Haley | Spire Motorsports Gainbridge Chevrolet | 29.060 | 0.366 | 169.222 |
| 14 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske Shell-Pennzoil Ford | 29.080 | 0.386 | 169.106 | |
| ROW 8 | 15 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing Kroger / Tree Top Ford | 29.082 | 0.388 | 169.094 |
| 16 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing Monster Energy Toyota | 29.127 | 0.433 | 168.833 | |
| ROW 9 | 17 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Trackhouse Racing Freeway Insurance Chevrolet | 29.172 | 0.478 | 168.573 |
| 18 | 41 | Cole Custer | Haas Factory Team Autodesk / HaasTooling Add-In Ford | 29.196 | 0.502 | 168.434 | |
| ROW 10 | 19 | 43 | Erik Jones | LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Dollar Tree Toyota | 29.216 | 0.522 | 168.319 |
| 20 | 88 | Shane Van Gisbergen | Trackhouse Racing WeatherTech Chevrolet | 29.223 | 0.529 | 168.278 | |
| ROW 11 | 21 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 29.226 | 0.532 | 168.261 |
| 22 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing Black's Tire Chevrolet | 29.234 | 0.540 | 168.215 | |
| ROW 12 | 23 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Richard Childress Racing Morgan & Morgan Chevrolet | 29.235 | 0.541 | 168.209 |
| 24 | 38 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports TitleMax Ford | 29.245 | 0.551 | 168.152 | |
| ROW 13 | 25 | 71 | Michael McDowell | Spire Motorsports Delaware Life Chevrolet | 29.249 | 0.555 | 168.129 |
| 26 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports Chili's Ride The Dente Chevrolet | 29.249 | 0.555 | 168.129 | |
| ROW 14 | 27 | 60 | Ryan Preece | RFK Racing Trimble Ford | 29.254 | 0.560 | 168.100 |
| 28 | 34 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports Grillo's Pickles Ford | 29.263 | 0.569 | 168.048 | |
| ROW 15 | 29 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports Ally Financial Chevrolet | 29.269 | 0.575 | 168.014 |
| 30 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota | 29.327 | 0.633 | 167.682 | |
| ROW 16 | 31 | 10 | Ty Dillon | Kaulig Racing Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet | 29.338 | 0.644 | 167.619 |
| 32 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing BuildSubmarines.com Ford | 29.401 | 0.707 | 167.260 | |
| ROW 17 | 33 | 35 | Riley Herbst | 23XI Racing Chumba Casino Toyota | 29.445 | 0.751 | 167.010 |
| 34 | 4 | Noah Gragson | Front Row Motorsports Long John Silver's Ford | 29.511 | 0.817 | 166.636 | |
| ROW 18 | 35 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. | HYAK Motorsports Pudgy Penguins Chevrolet | 29.663 | 0.969 | 165.782 |
| 36 | 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing Parts Plus Ford | 29.997 | 1.303 | 163.936 | |
| ROW 19 | 37 | 44 | Derek Kraus | NY Racing Team Urban Youth / Chevrolet Chevrolet | 30.451 | 1.757 | 161.492 |
| 38 | 66 | Timmy Hill | Garage 66 SKELETRON.com Ford | 31.025 | 2.331 | 158.504 |
-- Photo Credit: Lesley Ann Miller, Lumen Digital Agency
