Denny Hamlin claims the southern 500 pole as play -offs take the top 12 starting places

Darlington, SC – Denny Hamlin won the pole for Sunday’s Southern 500, the opening match of the Cup playoffs.

The playoffs dominated Saturday’s qualification. The top -12 starting places were claimed by the play -off managers.

Hamlin won his second pool of the season and 46th of his career with a shot of 171.381 mph. This is his second career Darlington Poland. He won 40 Poles with Toyota and became the first driver to do this for the manufacturer.

Hamlin is joined by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Chase Briscoe, who won the Southern 500 last year. Briscoe qualified by 171.255 km / h.

Josh Berry (170.578 MPH) qualified third, followed by Tyler Reddick (170.466) and Kyle Larson (170.012).

Playoff drivers took the top 12 places and 13 of the top 14. The only play -offers who start 20th or worse are: Shane van Gisbergen (20th with a round of 168.278 MPH), Chase Elliott (21st with a shot of 168.261 mph) and Alex Bowman (29th with a round of 168.014 km / h).

Justin Haley was the top-not-play driver. He started 13th after a round of 169.222 mph.

The green flag is scheduled to blow on the USA network at 18:05 o’clock on Sunday.