Denny Hamlin returns this week after missing last week’s race in Mexico City. He stayed home after the birth of his third child midweek.
He’ll be easy to find. Hamlin will lead the field to green Sunday after winning Saturday’s pole qualifying with a speed of 172.599 mph around the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway.
Sunday’s race is the fifth and final 2025 broadcast on Amazon’s Prime Video. Beginning next week at Atlanta, the next five Cup Series races will be on TNT, before moving to NBC for the remainder of the season.
The last Pocono polesitter to win on Sunday was Kyle Busch in 2017. In 11 Pocono races since then, the average starting spot of the race winner is 11th.
William Byron, currently leading the Cup Series points standings, will have to work his way through most of the field after crashing during his qualifying lap. He lost the rear-end of his No. 24 Chevy through Turn 2, slapped the outside wall with the right-rear, then slid down the track and smacked the inside retaining wall. He’ll start 31st.
Top 10 NASCAR speeds at Pocono
Denny Hamlin: 172.599
Chris Buescher: 172.325
Carson Hocevar: 171.825
John Hunter Nemechek: 171.789
Cole Custer: 171.638
Chase Briscoe: 171.612
Ty Gibbs: 171.546
Tyler Reddick: 171.429
Christopher Bell: 171.429
Daniel Suarez: 171.002
Starting lineup for Pocono
Pocono: How to Watch
Saturday: Xfinity Series, Explore Pocono 250, 3:30 p.m. (CW).
Sunday: Cup Series, The Great American Getaway 400, 2 p.m. (Prime).
IMSA sports-cars, ARCA also on TV
Saturday: ARCA at Elko (Minn.) Speedway, 9 p.m. (FS2).
Sunday: IMSA’s six-hour race at Watkins Glen, noon (NBC and Peacock).
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR qualifying results: Starting lineup set for Sunday race in Pocono on Amazon Prime
Reporting by Ken Willis, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
