DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Denny Hamlin will kick off the playoffs by leading the field to the green flag at Darlington Raceway.
The veteran driver won the pole for Sunday night's race with a lap of 28.694 seconds. This was fast enough to secure his second pole of the season and the 45th of his career. Hamlin's only other pole win at Darlington Raceway took place during the 2018 season.
This is Hamlin's 40th pole in a Toyota. He is the first driver in Toyota's history to have 40 Cup Series poles.
MORE: Hamlin wins pole, full starting lineup
"They made great changes," Hamlin said about his team. "We were average at best, that's all, in practice, but for one lap they made the adjustments they needed to. Now, we need to go to work to get that for the race."
Chase Briscoe, who won the pole for the first three crown jewel races this season, qualified second with a lap of 28.715 seconds. This lap, while it didn't win the pole, caused fellow driver Brad Keselowski to proclaim, "Oh, s***" as he looked at the leaderboard.
Give the #BuschLightPole at @TooToughToTame to @dennyhamlin!
He'll lead the field to green in Sunday's #NASCARPlayoffs opener. pic.twitter.com/TmxDPDKXjr
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 30, 2025
The rest of the top 10 included Josh Berry (28.829), Tyler Reddick (28.848), Kyle Larson (28.925), Ross Chastain (28.933), Christopher Bell (28.962), Bubba Wallace (28.985), Austin Dillon (29.004), and Austin Cindric (29.023).
"I'm super proud of that effort," Berry said after qualifying. "Our big focus was trying to qualify better here and the guys did a great job. I feel like our car is really strong and I'm excited for tomorrow.
"The biggest thing I feel like I've fought here is starting position, so starting up front I think we can just manage the race easier and obviously score some stage points. That's going to be important, so just having a mistake-free day by taking care of the car and having good pit stops will help keep us in the hunt."
The other playoff drivers in the field were William Byron in 11th (29.025), Ryan Blaney in 12th (29.032), Joey Logano in 14th (29.080), Shane van Gisbergen in 20th (29.223), Chase Elliott in 21st (29.226), and Alex Bowman in 29th (29.269).
Michael McDowell, who led the practice session in overall speed, qualified 25th with a lap of 29.249 seconds. This tied teammate Carson Hocevar. Justin Haley, the second-fastest driver in practice, qualified 13th with a lap of 29.249 seconds.
The Southern 500, one of the four crown jewels, will take place on Sunday night. Drivers will take the green flag at 6:05 p.m. ET as they kick off 500 miles of racing at one of NASCAR's toughest tracks. USA Network will provide coverage.