Chase Briscoe turned a 32.396-second lap at Homestead-Miami Speedway to win the pole for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series championship finale, edging Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin by just 0.017 seconds, Sports Yahoo reported. The margin gave Briscoe his second pole of the 2026 season and completed a front row sweep for Joe Gibbs Racing in the 40-car field.
The result also marked a historic close for Hendrick Motorsports, which finished the year without a single pole position for the first time since the team’s inception in 1984, according to the report.
Briscoe Edges Hamlin by Two-Hundredths of a Second
Briscoe’s Toyota posted 166.687 mph, while Hamlin’s lap of 32.413 seconds ran 166.600 mph. Hamlin said he did not check the timing screen but suspected he surrendered the pole by managing his tires too conservatively on the approach.
Chase Briscoe takes the pole at Homestead, edging Denny Hamlin by just 0.017 seconds. Toyota swept the top three, with Kyle Larson starting fourth in Sunday’s Cup championship race. That’s a loaded front of the field.
“I didn’t look, but if I had to guess, I would say it probably was a little bit coming to green,” Hamlin said. “I was probably trying to save the tires a little bit too much coming to the green.”
Hamlin also said he “couldn’t quite get through the middle all the way to Turn 4 as good as I needed to on the actual lap.”
Briscoe said his car carried speed from Friday practice and that starting from pit stall number one would benefit his crew.
“Last year, having seven poles, and this year qualifying has been a struggle for us,” Briscoe said. “So yeah, we were just joking. That was our first real one.”
Larson Leads Pace with Bell Close Behind
Championship leader Kyle Larson qualified fourth at 166.343 mph, while his closest title challenger, Christopher Bell, will start sixth. Tyler Reddick took third and Austin Cindric fifth, placing Toyota and Ford drivers in four of the top six spots.
Hamlin, who starts second, said he “just wants to win” with friends and family in attendance for the finale.
Hendrick’s 42-Year Pole Shutout Closes the Season
No Hendrick Motorsports driver won a pole during the 2026 campaign, ending a streak that dated to the team’s founding in 1984. The drought came despite Chase Elliott qualifying seventh, William Byron eighth and Alex Bowman 13th for Chevrolet.
Keselowski Crashes in Final RFK Start, Mears Reaches 500 Starts
Brad Keselowski lost control at the exit of Turn 4 in his final start before leaving RFK Racing, spinning into the inside wall and qualifying 40th at 151.732 mph.
“The track’s really, really slick,” Keselowski said. “Was trying to find a place that had some grip. It did not have grip down there.”
Casey Mears made his 500th career start and qualified 37th at 161.570 mph.
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