The field is set for the first race in the first round of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Denny Hamlin, hoping to win the first Cup Championship of his long and successful career, will start the postseason at the front. He won Saturday’s pole qualifying at Darlington Raceway, narrowly edging the pole king of 2025, Chase Briscoe.
Hamlin toured the 1.36-mile track in an average speed of 171.381 mph. Briscoe averaged 171.255. The top 12 speeds were turned in by playoff drivers.
It might be worth studying the upper rungs of the qualifying results. The last three winners at Darlington have started among the top three spots on the grid, including Hamlin, who started third and won the Goodyear 400 this past April. A year ago, Briscoe started third and won the Southern 500. Josh Berry was third-fastest Saturday.
Sixteen racers and their teams arrived at Darlington Raceway this weekend with chances to win the 2025 Cup Series championship. Sunday night brings the first of three races in the Round of 16. After those three races, the playoff field will trim to 12, then to eight after three more “Round of 12” races.
The three-race “Round of 8” will produce the four racers who go to Phoenix in November for the one-race championship battle, with the title going to the driver who finishes best among those four.
Remember the excitement of last Saturday night, when several underdogs were in the mix at Daytona with real shots to win and crash the playoff roster? Well, don’t expect any of that Sunday night at Darlington, a narrow and demanding track where the demands on man and machine generally weed out a big chunk of the field.
10 fastest NASCAR speeds in Darlington qualifying
Denny Hamlin: 171.381
Chase Briscoe: 171.255
Josh Berry: 170.578
Tyler Reddick: 170.466
Kyle Larson: 170.466
Ross Chastain: 169.965
Christopher Bell: 169.795
Bubba Wallace:169.660
Austin Dillon: 169.549
Austin Cindric: 169.438
Darlington lineup as NASCAR playoffs crank up
How to watch Sunday’s playoff race
How to watch: Time and TV channels
Saturday: Truck Series race at Darlington (FS1).
Sunday: Cup Series, Southern 500, from Darlington (USA).
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR qualifying results: Starting lineup set for Sunday night playoff race at Darlington
Reporting by Ken Willis, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
