Qualifying report
NASCAR Cup Indianapolis
Chase Briscoe earns Brickyard 400 pole as Denny Hamlin wrecks hard
Toyota dominated an action-packed qualifying session, which ended with a huge hit for Denny Hamlin
Nick DeGroot
Edited: Jul 27, 2025, 1:29 AM
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Indiana native Chase Briscoe rocketed to pole position for this year's Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Earning his series-leading fifth pole of the 2025 season, Briscoe bested 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace and Legacy Motor Club's Erik Jones.
Wallace, who enters this race on the playoff bubble, was just 0.013s away from pole position.
As for Briscoe, his season has included pole positions in three crown jewel events -- the Daytona 500, the Coca Cola 600, and now the Brickyard 400.
Tyler Reddick qualified fourth, and Ty Gibbs, who is in the finals of the $1 million in-season challenge, starts fifth.
William Byron was the top Chevrolet driver in sixth, Chris Buescher led the way for Ford in seventh, Carson Hocevar was eighth, A.J. Allmendinger ninth, and Austin Cindric tenth.
Rookie Shane van Gisbergen ended up eleventh in his best qualifying effort yet on a Cup Series oval.
On the edge of control
Watch: Back home again: Briscoe to lead field to green at Indianapolis
"I was super close to doing that (wrecking), really in all four corners," said Briscoe. "That's the closest I think I've ever gotten to Indy 500 qualifying, just being on the absolute ragged edge. I thought I was gonna lose it a couple times, but I was able to hold onto it. Super cool. I'm holding back tears, truthfully. This is such a special moment for me, and even hearing the crowd as I got the pole -- it was just super cool. Hopefully, we can keep it up there tomorrow. That's the one we want to win."
The session was full of heart-stopping moments as drivers struggled to maintain control over the course of a flying lap around the iconic 2.5-mile speedway.
Several drivers hit the wall, including John Hunter Nemechek, Brad Keselowski, Michael McDowell, and Kyle Busch.
Chase Elliott nearly spun out at the exit of Turn 2, which was a big trouble spot for drivers.
Hamlin wrecks while going for pole
Denny Hamlin was the final driver out on track, hoping to snag pole position just after signing a multi-year contract extension with Joe Gibbs Racing. And he was absolutely flying in the No. 11 Toyota — with the tracker showing him on provisional pole — nearly three tenths faster than Briscoe at the exit of Turn 2.
Unfortunately, that's when the car came out from underneath him and Hamlin slapped the outside wall. Now completely out of control, the car spun back across the track and slammed the inside wall with tremendous force. The front of the car was destroyed, and instead of celebrating an impressive pole, Hamlin will start 39th on Sunday. The Brickyard 400 is the only crown jewel race Hamlin has yet to win.
Photos from Indianapolis - Practice & Qualifying
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
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Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
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Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
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Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
Indianapolis - Saturday, in photos
NASCAR Cup
38
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Cla Driver # Manufacturer Laps Time Interval Mph 1 C. BriscoeJoe Gibbs Racing 19 Toyota 1
49.136
183.165 2 B. Wallace23XI Racing 23 Toyota 1
+0.013
49.149
0.013 183.117 3 E. JonesLegacy Motor Club 43 Toyota 1
+0.112
49.248
0.099 182.749 4 T. Reddick23XI Racing 45 Toyota 1
+0.131
49.267
0.019 182.678 5 T. GibbsJoe Gibbs Racing 54 Toyota 1
+0.194
49.330
0.063 182.445 6 W. ByronHendrick Motorsports 24 Chevrolet 1
+0.306
49.442
0.112 182.031 7 C. BuescherRFK Racing 17 Ford 1
+0.311
49.447
0.005 182.013 8 C. HocevarSpire Motorsports 77 Chevrolet 1
+0.359
49.495
0.048 181.837 9 A. AllmendingerKaulig Racing 16 Chevrolet 1
+0.363
49.499
0.004 181.822 10 A. CindricTeam Penske 2 Ford 1
+0.450
49.586
0.087 181.503 11 S. van GisbergenTrackHouse Racing 88 Chevrolet 1
+0.455
49.591
0.005 181.485 12 K. BuschRichard Childress Racing 8 Chevrolet 1
+0.459
49.595
0.004 181.470 13 K. LarsonHendrick Motorsports 5 Chevrolet 1
+0.481
49.617
0.022 181.389 14 B. KeselowskiRFK Racing 6 Ford 1
+0.493
49.629
0.012 181.346 15 J. LoganoTeam Penske 22 Ford 1
+0.557
49.693
0.064 181.112 16 C. BellJoe Gibbs Racing 20 Toyota 1
+0.659
49.795
0.102 180.741 17
J. BerryWood Brothers Racing
21 Ford 1
+0.694
49.830
0.035 180.614 18 N. GragsonFront Row Motorsports 4 Ford 1
+0.758
49.894
0.064 180.382 19 T. GillilandFront Row Motorsports 34 Ford 1
+0.805
49.941
0.047 180.213 20 A. DillonRichard Childress Racing 3 Chevrolet 1
+0.813
49.949
0.008 180.184 21 A. BowmanHendrick Motorsports 48 Chevrolet 1
+0.831
49.967
0.018 180.119 22 M. McDowellSpire Motorsports 71 Chevrolet 1
+0.838
49.974
0.007 180.094 23 R. PreeceRFK Racing 60 Ford 1
+0.843
49.979
0.005 180.076 24 R. BlaneyTeam Penske 12 Ford 1
+0.856
49.992
0.013 180.029 25 R. Herbst23XI Racing 35 Toyota 1
+0.876
50.012
0.020 179.957 26 T. DillonKaulig Racing 10 Chevrolet 1
+0.915
50.051
0.039 179.817 27 Z. SmithFront Row Motorsports 38 Ford 1
+0.925
50.061
0.010 179.781 28 J. HaleySpire Motorsports 7 Chevrolet 1
+0.931
50.067
0.006 179.759 29 C. CusterHaas Factory Team 41 Ford 1
+0.952
50.088
0.021 179.684 30 C. ElliottHendrick Motorsports 9 Chevrolet 1
+0.978
50.114
0.026 179.591 31 D. SuarezTrackHouse Racing 99 Chevrolet 1
+1.065
50.201
0.087 179.279 32 R. Stenhouse JrHyak Motorsports 47 Chevrolet 1
+1.174
50.310
0.109 178.891 33 R. ChastainTrackHouse Racing 1 Chevrolet 1
+1.197
50.333
0.023 178.809 34 C. WareRick Ware Racing 51 Ford 1
+1.452
50.588
0.255 177.908 35
J. LoveBeard Motorsports
62 Chevrolet 1
+1.665
50.801
0.213 177.162 36 J. NemechekLegacy Motor Club 42 Toyota 1
+1.853
50.989
0.188 176.509 37 J. BilickiGarage 66 66 Ford 1
+5.429
54.565
3.576 164.941 38 K. LeggeLive Fast Motorsports 78 Chevrolet 1
+7.827
56.963
2.398 157.997 39 D. HamlinJoe Gibbs Racing 11 Toyota 0
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