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NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300: Qualifying, Denny Hamlin’s Pole Position, Lineup At World Wide Technology Raceway

Jeff Hawkins Written by Sports EditorJeff Hawkins
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NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300: Qualifying, Denny Hamlin’s Pole Position, Lineup At World Wide Technology Raceway

NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin is helping to make the proper adjustments.

Similar to last week’s playoff opening pole position at Darlington Raceway, the No. 11 Toyota team made adjustments, and Hamlin earned the pole position.

During Saturday’s practice round at World Wide Technology Raceway, Hamlin again wasn’t content with his machine’s setup. The Joe Gibbs Racing team went to work and recalculated the car.

The extra work paid dividends again as Hamlin turned a hot qualifying lap of 139.190 mph, topping runner-up Kyle Larson by 0.021 seconds.

In two playoff outings, Hamlin will start on the inside of the front row for both. He now has 46 career poles.

“We were able to, very similarly to last week, make some great adjustments from where we were in practice –- and again, there is so much that is different from practice to qualifying when you are going for one lap — air pressures at a track like this is dramatically different, certainly, the intensity from which I drive is a lot different in practice than qualifying,” Hamlin said, as reported by NBC Sports. “They gave me all of the adjustments that I needed to have a really good handling car there and we were able to capitalize on it.”

At 44 years, nine months, Hamlin became the third-oldest Cup driver to capture consecutive poles. Only Mark Martin (50 years, two months) and Bill Elliott (46 years, nine months) were older.

Playoff drivers posted the top nine qualifying runs. Zane Smith (137.724 mph) topped the non-postseason drivers.

Haas Factory Team Switching To Chevrolet In ’26

Haas Factory Team announced it was switching manufacturers from Ford to Chevrolet for the 2026 season. By aligning with Chevrolet, Haas, based in Mooresville, North Carolina, enters a technical alliance with Charlotte-based Hendrick Motorsports.

As an organization dating to 2002, Haas initially raced Chevrolets through 2016.

“First and foremost, we want to thank Ford for its partnership,” Haas Factory Team president Joe Custer said. “Their support allowed us to establish Haas Factory Team and we remain dedicated to delivering results from them in Cup and Xfinity all the way through the season finale in Phoenix.”

Cup Series driver Cole Custer is slated to remain the driver of the No. 41 team and Sheldon Creed (No. 00) and Sam Mayer (No. 41) will stay with the newly branded O’Reilly Auto Parts Series next season.

Starting Lineup for NASCAR Cup Series’ Enjoy Illinois 300

Here is a look at the lineup for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series’ Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway:

Starting Position, Driver, Car No.

  • 1, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota
  • 2, Kyle Larson, No. 5 Chevrolet
  • 3, Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Toyota
  • 4, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Chevrolet
  • 5, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Ford
  • 6, William Blaney, No. 24 Chevrolet
  • 7, Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Toyota
  • 8, Christopher Bell, No. 20 Toyota
  • 9, Austin Cindric, No. 2 Ford
  • 10, Zane Smith, No. 38 Ford
  • 11, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Ford
  • 12, Josh Berry, No. 21 Ford
  • 13, Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford
  • 14, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Toyota
  • 15, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet
  • 16, Erik Jones, No. 43 Toyota
  • 17, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Chevrolet
  • 18, Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Chevrolet
  • 19, Chase Elliott, No. 9 Chevrolet
  • 20, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Toyota
  • 21, Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Toyota
  • 22, Kyle Busch, No. 8 Chevrolet
  • 23, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Ford
  • 24, Noah Gragson, No. 4 Ford
  • 25, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Chevrolet
  • 26, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Chevrolet
  • 27, Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Chevrolet
  • 28, Michael McDowell, No. 71 Chevrolet
  • 29, Cole Custer, No. 41 Ford
  • 30, Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Ford
  • 31, Justin Haley, No. 7 Chevrolet
  • 32, Ryan Preece, No. 60 Ford
  • 33, Riley Herbst, No. 35 Toyota
  • 34, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Chevrolet
  • 35, Ty Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet
  • 36, Cody Ware, No. 51 Ford

Jeff Hawkins Written by Sports EditorJeff Hawkins
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry, in both print and digital media. He joined the Sportscasting team in 2021 following a decade of freelancing. He spent his early career as a reporter for various newspapers in Illinois, New York, Florida, North Carolina, and Michigan, with a particular emphasis as a beat reporter for the Chicago Blackhawks. Jeff earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from Oakland University. Over the course of his career he earned several sports writing awards, including two national awards from the Associated Press Sports Editors for column writing and news reporting. One of the five prized columns included a commentary on NASCAR's increasing corporate influences, particularly in northern racetracks — commentary which you might find Jeff building on as part of the Motorsports writing team at Sportscasting now.  
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