Denny Hamlin won the pole Saturday for the NASCAR Chicago Street Race.
Hamlin, in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, 89.557 mph was the fastest time and qualified him in the lead position in NASCAR Cup Series qualifying for the Grant Park 220 on Sunday.
Hamlin credits his team for setting him up for success in qualifying. Nobody has a veteran’s advantage on this brand-new 12-turn, 2.2 mile course.
“It was just a great day — probably just my best day in all my career,” Hamlin said.
Hamlin told reporters in a press conference after qualifying that he’d been skeptical about the course after practicing on a simulator, nervous about the bumpy surface and narrow course.
But he said the track was smoother than he expected, and he thinks there will be enough room for cars to pass each other in Sunday’s race.
“I think there is an opportunity, if you have a fast race car, to move forward,” Hamlin said.
Following Hamlin will be the second-fastest Tyler Reddick (89.513 mph), who will join him in the first row.
Rounding up the top 5 was Shane van Gisbergen’s (89.403 mph), Christopher Bel (88.765 mph) and Daniel Suárez (88.668 mph).
Here’s the full lineup:
| Pos | Vehicle | Driver | Team | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Yahoo! Toyota | 88.435 | 89.557 |
| 2 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | Monster Energy Toyota | 88.479 | 89.513 |
| 3 | 91 | Shane Van Gisbergen | Enhance Health Chevrolet | 88.588 | 89.403 |
| 4 | 20 | Christopher Bell | CRAFTSMAN Racing For A Miracle Toyota | 89.224 | 88.765 |
| 5 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 89.322 | 88.668 |
| 6 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Chicago Pneumatic Compressors Ford | 89.328 | 88.662 |
| 7 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 89.512 | 88.48 |
| 8 | 15 | Jenson Button | Mobil 1 Ford | 89.571 | 88.421 |
| 9 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 90.219 | 87.786 |
| 10 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Bath Plant by BCI Acrylics Chevrolet | 90.283 | 87.724 |
| 11 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 89.404 | 88.587 |
| 12 | 54 | Ty Gibbs # | Interstate Batteries Toyota | 89.613 | 88.38 |
| 13 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 89.617 | 88.376 |
| 14 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | McDonald's Toyota | 89.667 | 88.327 |
| 15 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fastenal Ford | 89.687 | 88.307 |
| 16 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Tractors Ford | 89.687 | 88.307 |
| 17 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Menards/Dutch Boy Ford | 89.756 | 88.239 |
| 18 | 8 | Kyle Busch | 3CHI Chevrolet | 89.805 | 88.191 |
| 19 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Celsius Chevrolet | 89.859 | 88.138 |
| 20 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Elk Grove Village Ford | 89.878 | 88.119 |
| 21 | 43 | Erik Jones | DRAIVER Chevrolet | 90.046 | 87.955 |
| 22 | 24 | William Byron | Valvoline Chevrolet | 90.169 | 87.835 |
| 23 | 42 | Noah Gragson # | Wendy's Chevrolet | 90.225 | 87.781 |
| 24 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 90.232 | 87.774 |
| 25 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | gener8tor Skills Ford | 90.235 | 87.771 |
| 26 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hooters Chevrolet | 90.283 | 87.724 |
| 27 | 78 | Josh Bilicki(i) | Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet | 90.331 | 87.678 |
| 28 | 41 | Ryan Preece | Operating Engineers Ford | 90.408 | 87.603 |
| 29 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Get Bioethanol Chevrolet | 90.521 | 87.494 |
| 30 | 51 | Andy Lally | Camping World Ford | 90.575 | 87.441 |
| 31 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Discount Tire Ford | 90.718 | 87.304 |
| 32 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford | 90.759 | 87.264 |
| 33 | 77 | Ty Dillon | Chicago White Sox Chevrolet | 90.799 | 87.226 |
| 34 | 1 | Ross Chastain | AdventHealth Chevrolet | 90.856 | 87.171 |
| 35 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | GEARWRENCH Ford | 90.98 | 87.052 |
| 36 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Mariano's/SunnyD Chevrolet | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | 31 | Justin Haley | Benesch Law Chevrolet | 0 | 0 |
Contributing: Ellery Jones
