CHICAGO — Denny Hamlin won the pole for Sunday’s inaugural Cup race on the streets of Chicago and called it “probably my single best day at the racetrack in all my career.”
Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 winner, explained what he meant.
“Just going into a race that, obviously, has got a ton of hype, there’s a ton of eyes looking at this race. Just the overall performance of our team today, from Lap 1 of practice to the last lap of qualifying, has been strong on a track. That is really tough. Everyone has had to learn it at the same rate of speed.
“No one has got a veteran advantage at this type of racetrack. It’s just a very proud moment for our team to come here on equal footing with everyone and perform as good as they did today. I never felt like I had more speed in reserve than what I did today.”
MORE: Cup starting lineup
Hamlin won the pole with a lap of 88.435 seconds (89.557 mph). He’ll be joined on the front by 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick (89.513 mph).
Three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisgergen (89.403) qualified third in the Project 91 car for Trackhouse Racing. Christopher Bell (88.765) will start fourth. Daniel Suarez (88.688) qualified fifth.
Justin Haley will start last in the 37-car field, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will start 36th. Both did not qualify after incidents in practice earlier Saturday.
