NASCAR Darlington Southern 500 Qualifying Results and starting lineup

August 31, 2025

Kevin Peterson

Checkout full 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Darlington Southern 500 Qualifying Results and starting lineup.

Denny Hamlin demonstrated his mastery at Darlington by securing pole position for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs opener with an impressive average speed of 171.381 mph.

This marked his 45th career Cup Series pole and added to his momentum in the 2025 season, as it was his second pole of the year.

“We struggled with the balance all through race practice,” Hamlin said after qualifying. “So we made some good adjustments there to go one lap. I felt like it was really good. This Toyota did everything I needed it to do. It’s awesome to come here and get a pole.”

Hamlin’s late surge in qualifying dethroned his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe, who had previously held the top spot and was aiming to become the first driver ever to claim pole position for all four major crown jewel events in one season.

Josh Berry secured the third spot on the grid for Wood Brothers at 170.578 mph, followed by Tyler Reddick at 170.466 mph, while Kyle Larson rounded out the top five with a solid 170.012 mph.

Ross Chastain will start from sixth after turning in 169.965 mph while Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, Austin Dillon, and Austin Cindric completed the top ten, all registering lap times within a narrow margin.

Full 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs grid and seedings

NASCAR 23XI Front Row lawsuit: Text messages from Michael Jordan, executives exposed in latest hearing

Darlington Southern 500 Qualifying Results & starting lineup – 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs

Pos	Car	Driver	Team	Lap time	Speed
1	11	Denny Hamlin*	Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota	28.694	171.381
2	19	Chase Briscoe*	Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota	28.715	171.255
3	21	Josh Berry*	Wood Brothers Racing Ford	28.829	170.578
4	45	Tyler Reddick*	23XI Racing Toyota	28.848	170.466
5	5	Kyle Larson*	Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet	28.925	170.012
6	1	Ross Chastain*	Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet	28.933	169.965
7	20	Christopher Bell*	Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota	28.962	169.795
8	23	Bubba Wallace*	23XI Racing Toyota	28.985	169.660
9	3	Austin Dillon*	Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet	29.004	169.549
10	2	Austin Cindric*	Team Penske Ford	29.023	169.438
11	24	William Byron*	Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet	29.025	169.426
12	12	Ryan Blaney*	Team Penske Ford	29.032	169.386
13	7	Justin Haley	Spire Motorsports Chevrolet	29.060	169.222
14	22	Joey Logano*	Team Penske Ford	29.080	169.106
15	17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing Ford	29.082	169.094
16	54	Ty Gibbs	Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota	29.127	168.833
17	99	Daniel Suarez	Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet	29.172	168.573
18	41	Cole Custer	Haas Factory Team Ford	29.196	168.434
19	43	Erik Jones	Legacy Motor Club Toyota	29.216	168.319
20	88	Shane van Gisbergen*	Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet	29.223	168.278
21	9	Chase Elliott*	Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet	29.226	168.261
22	16	AJ Allmendinger	Kaulig Racing Chevrolet	29.234	168.215
23	8	Kyle Busch	Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet	29.235	168.209
24	38	Zane Smith	Front Row Motorsports Ford	29.245	168.152
25	71	Michael McDowell	Spire Motorsports Chevrolet	29.249	168.129
26	77	Carson Hocevar	Spire Motorsports Chevrolet	29.249	168.129
27	60	Ryan Preece	RFK Racing Ford	29.254	168.100
28	34	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports Ford	29.263	168.048
29	48	Alex Bowman*	Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet	29.269	168.014
30	42	John Hunter Nemechek	Legacy Motor Club Toyota	29.327	167.682
31	10	Ty Dillon	Kaulig Racing Chevrolet	29.338	167.619
32	6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing Ford	29.401	167.260
33	35	Riley Herbst	23XI Racing Toyota	29.445	167.010
34	4	Noah Gragson	Front Row Motorsports Ford	29.511	166.636
35	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet	29.663	165.782
36	51	Cody Ware	Rick Ware Racing Ford	29.997	163.936
37	44	Derek Kraus	NY Racing team Chevrolet	30.451	161.492
38	66	Timmy Hill	Garage 66 Ford	31.025	158.504