Denny Hamlin begins the second race of the postseason by claiming the pole once again, marking his second consecutive playoff pole and 46th career Busch Light Pole Award, and the first ever pole for Toyota at Gateway.
His lap of 32.330 seconds (139.190 mph) edged out Kyle Larson by just 0.021 seconds. With such dominance in qualifying, Hamlin has a strong shot at controlling Sunday’s race from the front, leveraging prior success at Gateway, finishing runner-up twice at this track.
Kyle Larson qualified second, narrowly behind Hamlin. Larson’s front-row start might be indicative of a Goodyear tire test that he participated in previously. That valuable on-track experience gives him a prime opportunity to challenge early and potentially take control of the race himself.
Locked into the Round of 12, Chase Briscoe made his presence felt with a solid P3, turning his Darlington momentum into track position at Gateway. This strong starting position for Briscoe just continues the theme of phenomenal qualifying efforts in 2025 for that team.
Ross Chastain showed up with a strong P4 starting spot, coming off of a strong run at Darlington to start the playoffs. A former winner at Phoenix, Chastain could be a bit of a surprise winner on the flat oval in St. Louis.
At P5, Ryan Blaney finds himself in familiar territory. He’s historically strong at Gateway—especially when starting near the front—with past performances showing him as one of the favorites to win it all. Not necessarily known for his qualifying abilities, Blaney will have valuable track position to start the race on Sunday.
William Byron starts P6, a track that doesn’t always suit his style, but a top-10 qualifying run gives him opportunity to stay out of any potential trouble early. Right behind, Tyler Reddick lined up P7, a setup that suits his survival-of-the-fittest approach to the playoffs. Reddick will look to grind out another modest performance on Sunday—stage points and a solid finish.
Christopher Bell slotted into P8. Given Bell’s past success at Gateway and previous race-winning speed, starting up in the top 10 could give him leverage to work his way up to the front.
At P9, Austin Cindric finds himself riding the wave of his Gateway win from last season. This year, with Gateway being a playoff race, the magnitude of a back-to-back win would be so much greater, especially since Cindric is fighting to stay above the cutoff line.
Although he isn’t in championship contention, Zane Smith notably earned a P10 starting spot, invading the front group and breaking up AJ “all-playoff-top-10.”
Now shifting to those more on the bubble:
Josh Berry laid down a respectable P12, a solid starting point, but Berry is going to need more being -19 below the cut line after a lap one crash at Darlington last weekend.
Joey Logano, who is also below the cut line, will start P13 Sunday. Logano is statistically the best driver at Gateway, winning the inaugural race on the flat track in 2022, never finishing outside of the top-5 in three starts and having an average finish of 3.0..
Bubba Wallace, starting mid-pack in P14, and Austin Dillon rolls off from P15. Certainly not ideal for these two championship hopefuls.
Shane van Gisbergen, P18 refuses to give up on his 2025 playoff hopes, and will start the race on Sunday with decent enough track position—at least compared ton where he usually starts.
Finally, there’s Chase Elliott, P19, and Alex Bowman, P25. These two Hendrick Motorsports drivers face an uphill climb if they look to be competitive on Sunday. Both drivers struggled at Darlington—Bowman is -19 below the cutline and Elliott is safe by only 9 points—and a mediocre start at a track where track position means so much does not help their odds to claim that Cup Series championship trophy.
So, that is how your playoff drivers fared in qualifying at Gateway on Saturday evening. All in all, Hamlin’s pole plants him squarely in the catbird seat for not only stage points, but control of the race.
After Chase Briscoe’s dominant win at Darlington last weekend, only 11 spots remain in the Round of 12. Every position matters in these playoffs, and there are a few drivers who will be desperate to work their way through the field on Sunday.
