Denny Hamlin secured the Las Vegas pole during Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, marking a key achievement for his career and a major moment for Toyota’s racing efforts. This Denny Hamlin Las Vegas Pole marked his first at the Nevada track, his fourth pole of the season, and reflected a continued trend of Toyota’s dominance in recent qualifying rounds.
Hamlin’s First Las Vegas Pole and Toyota’s Qualifying Mastery
On Saturday, Hamlin, representing Joe Gibbs Racing, recorded the fastest lap in qualifying, clinching pole position for Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This performance contributed to Toyota’s third top-three qualifying sweep of the season, echoing earlier successes such as the Indianapolis race, and stands as Toyota’s 25th occasion of sweeping the top three qualifying spots in Cup Series history.
This marks Hamlin’s first career pole at Las Vegas, while also being the latest in his list of strong starts this season, following pole wins at Pocono, Darlington-2, and Gateway. This milestone brought his career pole tally to 47, pushing him further up the historical rankings among NASCAR’s elite qualifiers.
Preparation for Race Day: Strategy and Adjustments
Hamlin provided insight into his team’s race-day approach, noting the unique challenges of Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the difficulty of nailing the right setup given the constantly evolving track conditions:
“I mean, that’s proprietary information, but, you know, we prepare for how we think the race track will be on Sunday we use a lot of track history and things like that, and Saturdays, I think this is one of the more finicky racetracks where, you know, kind of no matter when your practice is, either early in the morning, like we’ve had here before, or even in the afternoon, it just is a different race track on Sunday. There’s just a lot of factors that you got a factor in. We planned for Sunday and knew we were going to have to put some patches on things to make it go on Saturday. I thought it was good in the short run. Obviously, we were decent in practice on the short run. Struggled quite a bit in the long run, but, you know, it’s nothing new and nothing that’s too alarming on my end.”
– Denny Hamlin, Driver, Joe Gibbs Racing
His comments highlighted the complex calculations required, referencing use of track history and acknowledging the unpredictable nature of Saturdays in Las Vegas. The aim, he stated, is to have the car ready for the constantly shifting track on Sunday. While satisfied with their short-run pace, Hamlin noted ongoing efforts to improve for extended runs.
Chasing Stage Points Versus Focusing on Victory
When asked about priorities in the upcoming race—whether to concentrate on gathering stage points or pursue an outright win—Hamlin explained his detailed, run-by-run planning:
“I plan for, you know, I said, goals for each stage or really each run, and then, you know, generally with stages, and that changes by what’s going on. I think that I try not to zoom out too much and if they start thinking about stage points and stuff like that, I do think about track position because I know one of the benefits of keeping it is you will get stage points. I’m not really focused too much on the result, just the execution of making sure I do my part, to make sure I don’t make any mistakes and take our team out of it.”
– Denny Hamlin, Driver, Joe Gibbs Racing
Hamlin stressed the importance of execution over results, underlining that maintaining solid track position naturally leads to stage points. Staying focused on his individual performance, minimizing mistakes, and supporting the team’s outcome remain his top priorities rather than chasing numbers or outcomes prematurely.
Rapid Qualifying Pace: Improvements Under New Leadership
Hamlin addressed whether he was surprised by his speed in qualifying, citing recent improvements and collaboration with crew chief Chris Gayle:
“You know, not really. The team has done a really good job, especially on a mile-and-a-halves of getting me better on Saturdays. I don’t know if it a Chris Gabehart (former crew chief, current Joe Gibbs Racing competition director) versus Chris Gayle (crew chief) difference? I know Saturdays with Gabehart we had our struggles in and we always just kind of we knew Sunday we were going to be great, and Saturdays, like I talked about, we tried to put Band-Aids on it, but sometimes it wasn’t enough. Chris Gayle was always qualifying really, really well with Ty Gibbs, and I thought, you know, some of that new philosophy is something that maybe we could work off of because I thought that Saturdays were my weakness. Certainly, statistically something I needed to improve is especially qualifying, and so I think we’ve gotten that better this year and we haven’t really sacrificed any race pace for it. So, I think probably Chris Gayle gets the bulk of the credit.”
– Denny Hamlin, Driver, Joe Gibbs Racing
He credited Gayle’s influence with improved Saturday performances and noted that changes in philosophy brought from working with Ty Gibbs have paid off. The emphasis on refining qualifying setups has not come at the expense of race pace, allowing Hamlin greater competitiveness across race weekends.
Expectations for Race Performance
Looking ahead to Sunday’s main event, Hamlin predicted a challenging transition from qualifying to race conditions:
“I just expect it’ll be different. The car will drive dramatically different tomorrow than today.”
– Denny Hamlin, Driver, Joe Gibbs Racing
He further detailed the adjustments possible prior to the race, emphasizing that only fine-tuning is allowed after initial setup deadlines, with most components locked in ahead of time:
“Well, we know we’re in a box when we get here, so we know that you know, the big stuff, the big components, you’ve got to have you got to set for Sunday on Friday or Thursday, whenever you leave. So, we know that our set up is not optimized for today’s conditions, track and whatnot, because we know that we only got small things that we can tune for tomorrow, for the race, in the garage. So, we get the bulk of the stuff that we need and then we there are small things we can change, we do adjust for Saturday versus Sunday.”
– Denny Hamlin, Driver, Joe Gibbs Racing
This process highlights the challenge teams face in balancing optimal setups for both Saturday qualifying and Sunday race conditions—a task complicated by NASCAR’s rules regarding adjustments.
Identifying Race-Winning Potential Early On
Hamlin expressed that while he often has a sense of his car’s strength soon after the green flag, the particularly changeable Las Vegas venue may delay that realization:
“Man, I usually am pretty confident in saying that I’ll know that soon. At some point in the first stage, I’ll know. First 10 might be a little bit ambitious, but just because I think this track just changes so, so much.”
– Denny Hamlin, Driver, Joe Gibbs Racing
His measured approach acknowledges the uncertainty that conditions at Las Vegas present, indicating that assessment of true race capability might only come after several laps or by the end of the first stage.
Reflections on the Recent Legal Settlement Conference
Addressing peripheral topics, Hamlin commented on recent legal developments affecting the sport:
“No, no thoughts and you know, appreciate Judge Bell asserting himself in there and, you know, volunteering himself as being the judicial officer that was asked for.”
– Denny Hamlin, Driver, Joe Gibbs Racing
His remarks indicated no direct impact or additional views but acknowledged the involvement of Judge Bell in the legal process.
Maintaining Momentum from Kansas and Manufacturer Strength
When asked about correlating qualifying speed with recent results from Kansas, Hamlin admitted to not yet reviewing practice data but remained optimistic about Toyota’s chances:
“It’s fair to say, I don’t know the ranking. I haven’t seen even the practice sheet. I don’t know where we even were. I don’t know where the competition is. I haven’t looked at any, again, my focus as soon as I get out of the car tell them what I need for qualifying in the short run, like, I haven’t even reviewed SMT. I’ve reviewed nothing. Like, I will do that as soon as I leave here. So, I can’t really tell you that yes, it correlates, but certainly it seems as though you can’t ignore that when our pedals all the way down, it seemed like the Toyotas were pretty strong there. So I hope it correlates, and again, we have the same tire. Who’s going to adapt the best tomorrow? That’s going to be really the one to beat.”
– Denny Hamlin, Driver, Joe Gibbs Racing
The competitive position of Toyota in both qualifying and race conditions remains a talking point, with adaptation to the chosen tire and setup expected to determine the main contender on Sunday.
Significance of All-Time Pole Ranking
Hamlin reflected on his position among NASCAR’s all-time pole sitters and his own development as a qualifier:
“Yeah, it’s great. I never really considered myself a qualifier. Here over the last few years, I feel like we’ve kind of revamped that a little bit, but it’s just my ability to continue to learn and learn from others that are significantly better than me at it. So, 47 is a lot. I know there for a while it was kind of hanging around to where it was like, the wins and the poles were about the same, but it’s like the wins actually started taking over more than the poles have. So, I’d like to keep them fairly even. I need a lot more poles to do it, though.”
– Denny Hamlin, Driver, Joe Gibbs Racing
Achieving 47 poles places Hamlin among an elite group in Cup Series history, a milestone that he credits largely to relentless learning and adapting from expert peers and evolving team strategies.
Navigating Team Ownership and Driving Duties
Hamlin discussed the complexities of balancing his responsibilities as both a driver and a team co-owner, especially in relation to information sharing and competition:
“Well, I think it was a thought early on. You know, again, when I started the team, it was earlier than I expected that I was going to do it, but I guess fortunately for me, the stars aligned, like right when they did during COVID. And then yeah, up until just a few weeks ago, it’s been pretty smooth sailing now and you know, balancing the two. But you know, we knew that there would be challenges. There was, I think, a few years ago heading into the regular season finale, when the question was asked, you, you going to push your teammate, you got to push the cars that you own. The answer was a bit controversial there, but you, I thought it was an important to kind of, lay that out that way, no, you know, if I did do something that I wanted to make sure everyone knew it to expect, in case it did come up, and so I think that these are the fine line things that you do balance, but I mean, I’m certain that I’ve cost myself more victories by giving them free information that I have taken from them. So again, they’re long-term success is my future but, you know, I know every time that I open my mouth and show them things that I think would help them, that there’s a really good chance that they’re going to use that and beat me with it.”
– Denny Hamlin, Driver and Team Owner, Joe Gibbs Racing/23XI Racing
Hamlin admitted the situation presents a delicate line, sometimes benefiting competitors through shared information while supporting broader organizational goals. The balancing act between advancing team interests and pursuing individual wins remains a nuanced and ongoing challenge for the seasoned driver.
Pit Road Challenges at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Pit road at Las Vegas presented its own difficulties, notably with respect to maintaining legal speed and efficient stops:
“I don’t recall. I know I had a bad pit stop in the first stage that we lost a ton of track position. I think I might have sped you’re right. I did end up in the back of the pack at some point pretty early. The only thing that makes it difficult, it’s truthfully, if you try to on the speed limit, it’s not a difficult pit road, but we’re always trying to find all the edges that we can. At the beginning of pit road, this pit road is curved, anywhere there’s a curve in a NASCAR pit lane, that’s in a place that you can cheat the system, and you try to do it to the best of your ability, and sometimes you get busted.”
– Denny Hamlin, Driver, Joe Gibbs Racing
He pointed out that drivers constantly push the limits and seek opportunities to optimize pit road speed, though the curved entrance at Las Vegas adds complexity and risk to this aspect of the race strategy.
Anticipating Talladega: Strategies and Unpredictability
Looking ahead to the high-stakes race at Talladega, Hamlin described the contrasting objectives facing playoff and non-playoff drivers, and recognized the tendency for “wacky” superspeedway races driven by manufacturer alliances:
“I think there’s going to be seven or eight of us that are worried about points and there’s going to be 30 that do not care. That’s always the beauty of Talladega in the fall is that there’s so many different agendas when it comes down to it. I haven’t even looked at the trends of wrecks and where they start and things like that that I will look at next week, but generally speaking, the fall Talladega is where you’re going to see a lot of manufacturer teammate stuff going on, even more than a normal superspeedway race, because you’ll have certainly everyone from Ford, Chevy and Toyota saying, you know, these are cars that we need – make sure we’re pushing these cars, right? So it’s just a weird balance and sometimes you see wacky races.”
– Denny Hamlin, Driver, Joe Gibbs Racing
The large and varied field at Talladega, along with closely coordinated team strategies by manufacturers like Ford, Toyota, and Chevrolet, frequently lead to chaotic outcomes and unexpected turns.
Team Collaboration and the Possibility of Race Manipulation
Race manipulation through strategic cooperation has long been part of superspeedway racing, according to Hamlin:
“Yeah, I mean, I don’t know if it’s manipulation of it, just, like, try to, you know try to help these guys as much as possible. It’s been going on for about 10 years now, and so I just don’t think there’s any way to stop that. I mean, everyone’s going to be game planning this week on when are we going to pit, we’re gonna do it together, and we’re gonna try to stop others from passing us. That’s racing.”
– Denny Hamlin, Driver, Joe Gibbs Racing
He asserted that despite warnings, strategic alliances and manufacturer team tactics are a reality unlikely to be erased from events like Talladega, as teams and drivers prepare coordinated approaches throughout the week.
Manufacturer Independence: Toyota’s Approach
Finally, Hamlin commented on Toyota’s stance regarding driver strategy and recent team controversies:
“I did not. No. I think they kind of understood and knew it was a touchy situation, I think they do a really good job of like kind of staying out of that stuff. We, you know, to be honest with you, I can’t remember the last time, and I talked about manufacturers and stuff next week. Hand on a Bible, I can’t tell you the last time that Toyota told us to do anything. They stayed out of that, they try to let us teams figure it out, and let the drivers figure it out. Their job is to provide fast engines and all the information that we need to go fast. So situations, especially like, you know, what we had, in Kansas, yeah, they’ll wipe their hands clean and that. They don’t want any part.”
– Denny Hamlin, Driver, Joe Gibbs Racing
Hamlin stated that Toyota allows its teams and drivers to operate independently and does not intervene in team or race strategy, focusing instead on engine and data support only.
The Road Ahead: High Stakes and Unpredictable Outcomes
With Sunday’s race set to feature Denny Hamlin starting from pole and Toyota holding the front row advantage at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, all eyes are on whether the qualifying sweep can translate into a race win for Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing. As the postseason progresses, the outcome in Las Vegas may set the tone for key playoff moments—including the strategic and unpredictable events expected at the upcoming Talladega race. With tightly wound rivalries, manufacturer muscle, and the complexities of managing both team and personal ambitions, the next chapters in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series are poised for intensity and surprise.
