Denny Hamlin wins the pole for the NASCAR South Point 400 at Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Denny Hamlin seized the pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, positioning himself to make up ground on points leader Kyle Larson, who qualified sixth.

Hamlin, second in the Cup Series standings, posted a lap of 28.910 seconds at 186.787 mph on the 1.5-mile track on Saturday. He was 0.017 seconds faster than second-place Ty Gibbs and 0.088 seconds faster than Christopher Bell. Larson was 0.144 seconds behind Hamlin.

“I think what we had today is what we’re going to have tomorrow,” said Hamlin, who trails Larson by 26 points. “It doesn’t seem like there will be a whole lot of difference. I like my car today and, fortunately, I’ll like it tomorrow. Obviously, track position really matters.”

Hamlin earned his 53rd pole position in 752 Cup Series races. It marks his fifth pole and 19th top-10 start of 2026.

Gibbs’ second-place start is his 22nd top-10 start of 2026 and his sixth in nine races at Las Vegas.

Bell posted his ninth top-10 start at Las Vegas and his 13th in 31 races this season.

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/apf-AutoRacing