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Denny Hamlin wins his second consecutive pole at Pocono Raceway and becomes the career leader at “The Tricky Triangle.”- Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson matches his season-best qualifying effort and starts second.
- Hamlin leads three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers among the top-five qualifiers.
Photo: Teddy Batkin/Myracenews
LONG POND, Pa. (June 13, 2026) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin gained sole possession of the Pocono Raceway record for career poles after earning his sixth during Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying for The Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISIT PA.
Hamlin posted a lap of 173.250 miles per hour (51.948 seconds) on the 2.5-mile tri-oval to edge Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (173.067 mph, 52.003 secs.) by 0.055 of a second for the Busch Light Pole Award. The pole was Hamlin’s second in a row at “The Tricky Triangle” and pushed his career total to six to break a tie with Ken Schrader for the track record. It also was his third of the season and 51st of his career.
Hamlin, driving the No. 11 Toyota, will lead the 38-car field to the green flag for Sunday’s The Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISIT PA beginning at 1 p.m. ET (TV/Streaming: Amazon Prime Video, Radio: MRN, SiriusXM). Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro will serve as Honorary Starter and wave the green over the field from the starter’s stand of the sold-out race.
Hamlin will be chasing his third consecutive win of the season, following Nashville and Michigan, and a record-extending eighth at Pocono Raceway.
“I didn’t truly like my prospects because the track got so hot,” Hamlin said. “I was kind of watching it throughout qualifying, and there was a moment in the middle where there were so many clouds and the track temp dropped, then for the last 12 cars it was all sun and felt like it was really going to be tough to get around.
“But I got through Turn 3 good, got through (Turn) 1 pretty good, and at that point I thought ‘this might be good enough.’ So I really did do a great job through Turn 2 because I knew I was on a good lap and didn’t want to mess it up. So, overall, just good enough and the car had some great speed.”
Larson will start alongside Hamlin after equaling his season-best starting position and earning his seventh top-five qualifying effort. Spire Motorsports driver Daniel Suarez (172.881 mph, 52.059 secs.) qualified third for his fourth top-five start of the season.
Joe Gibbs Racing landed three of the top-five qualifying positions with strong performances by Ty Gibbs and Chase Briscoe. Gibbs qualified fourth with a lap of 172.771 mph (52.092 secs.) and Briscoe, the defending race winner, will start fifth after posting a lap of 172.639 mph (52.132 secs.).
It was a difficult day for 23XI Racing with NASCAR Cup Series championship points leader Tyler Reddick qualifying 16th and teammate Bubba Wallace starting 38th after making contact with the Turn 2 wall during his qualifying run.
Click HERE for the full qualifying results.
For tickets or additional information about The Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISIT PA race weekend, please visitwww.poconoraceway.com.
ON TAP: Saturday’s on-track activities conclude with the MillerTech Battery 250 presented by KOA, beginning at 4 p.m. ET.
