Las Vegas — Denny Hamlin secured the pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, putting himself in a prime position to close the gap on points leader Kyle Larson. Hamlin, second in the Cup series standings, posted a lap time of 28.910 seconds with an average speed of 186.787 mph on the 1.5-mile track during Saturday’s qualifying session. He edged out Ty Gibbs by 0.017 seconds and Christopher Bell by 0.088 seconds. Larson qualified sixth, 0.144 seconds off Hamlin’s pace.

“I think what we had today is what we’re going to have tomorrow,” Hamlin said, trailing Larson by 26 points in the championship. “It doesn’t seem like there will be a whole lot of difference. I like my car today and, fortunately, I’ll like it tomorrow. Obviously, track position really matters.”

Hamlin holds several records at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, including the most completed laps with 7,696 over 29 races. He also shares the record for most lead lap finishes with 25 and became the oldest winner in a race at the track in March, at 45 years, 3 months, and 25 days old. Additionally, Hamlin was the last driver to win the South Point 400 from the pole position, achieving that feat on October 12, 2025. This pole represents Hamlin’s 53rd career pole in 752 Cup series races, his fifth pole this season, and his 19th top-10 start in 2026.

Ty Gibbs’ second-place qualifying effort marks his 22nd top-10 start in 2026 and his sixth top-10 in nine races at Las Vegas. Christopher Bell recorded his ninth top-10 start at the track and his 13th in 31 races this season.

Meanwhile, Brad Keselowski, who qualified 16th, announced he will leave Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing (RFK) at the end of the 2026 season, concluding his five-year contract with the team. Despite stepping away from RFK, Keselowski made clear he is not retiring after a 19-year career in NASCAR.

“My career’s not over by any means,” Keselowski said. “There’s a lot of things still to work out. I can’t really go into details on how we got to where we are, at least not at this time. There’s a lot of things I can’t really talk about.”

Keselowski indicated that the decision was anticipated for several months. He expressed confidence that he will continue racing next season and has not ruled out future opportunities, including potential team ownership.

“When I’m in a vehicle at Daytona, I’ll be confident about that,” he said. “Right now, I think there’s enough interest where I’m not sweating it. There’s things to work out, but there’s enough interest where I’m confident that I’ll be somewhere next year.”

Chip Bowers, president of RFK Racing, noted that Keselowski’s departure was influenced by the driver’s desire to focus on racing rather than shifting into a leadership role within the team.