After the Nashville-Michigan double, it appears Denny Hamlin is not done yet.
The Joe Gibbs Racing veteran continued his scorching run of form on Saturday by securing pole position (third straight) for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway. It marked Hamlin’s fourth pole of the 2026 season.
While the 45-year-old tied Kyle Busch on NASCAR’s all-time wins list with his 63rd career victory at Michigan International Speedway last weekend, the No. 11 team arrives at Pocono with an opportunity to achieve something even more significant: one-up the late two-time champion.
A win on Sunday would not only give Hamlin three consecutive Cup Series victories for the first time in his career, but it would further extend his record as the winningest driver at the infamous “Tricky Triangle.”
During the chaotic qualifying, Hamlin turned a lap of 51.948 seconds at 173.250 mph around the 2.5-mile tri-oval, narrowly edging Kyle Larson for the top spot. The effort earned him his sixth career pole at Pocono, where he has already collected a record seven Cup Series victories.
Furthermore, the pole carried added significance for Hamlin, who matched Ryan Newman’s tally of 51 career poles, moving into a tie for ninth-most in NASCAR Cup Series history.
The pole-winning run was hardly a surprise given the momentum Hamlin and his No. 11 JGR crew have built over the past month. Since capturing the NASCAR All-Star Race, the three-time Daytona winner has followed up with back-to-back points-paying victories at Nashville Superspeedway and Michigan International Speedway.
The recent surge has also dramatically cut into Tyler Reddick’s championship lead. Starting alongside Hamlin on the front row will be Larson and Daniel Suarez on P3. Mwanhile, his JGR teammates Ty Gibbs and defending Pocono winner Chase Briscoe rounded out the rest of the top five.
