Denny Hamlin leads pack of NASCAR playoff contenders in Southern 500 lineup

Shane Connuck, The Charlotte Observer on Aug 30, 2025

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DARLINGTON, S.C. — Denny Hamlin will lead the field to green in Sunday’s Southern 500.

Hamlin, a five-time Darlington winner, edged out his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate and reigning race winner Chase Briscoe to claim the top starting spot for the opening race of the Cup Series Playoffs. It’s his 40th career pole in a Toyota — the most by any driver in the manufacturer’s history — and his second of the season.

Thirteen of the first 14 cars in Sunday’s field are playoff drivers. Practice and qualifying brought some unpredictability under the Palmetto State’s sun Saturday morning, but Hamlin’s No. 11 team made key adjustments, finding the perfect balance in Turns 1 and 2 that set him up for the pole run. That speed — and some extra aggression through Turn 3 — put Hamlin on top of the board.

“A lot of it came from the balance I had in (turns) one and two,” Hamlin said of his qualifying effort. “It was so superior to what I had in practice that I knew that I under-drove that corner, and at that point, I figured I would just go deeper into turn three and the result was good. It just stuck. They made great changes.

“We always plan for the end of the race and we figure out how to make it work at the very beginning, so certainly, when you start up front like we are, that is going to help us ‘band-aid’ the car for a little while.”

Odds and Prediction for the Cook Out Southern 500

William Byron is the favorite at +400 odds on DraftKings Sportsbook, followed by Kyle Larson (+600), Hamlin (+650), Ryan Blaney (+650) and Christopher Bell (+800).

The Charlotte Observer’s Shane Connuck is picking Byron to win his first Southern 500. The Charlotte native will roll off from 11th, and with the late wrecks and action this race always brings, you can expect a bevy of leaders. But I’m going with Byron to emerge as the top Chevy on Sunday night, overtaking Larson and holding off the field late. Hendrick Motorsports is locked in and ready for the playoffs, and the driver of the No. 24 is chasing his first Cup title.

How to watch the NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington

— Race: Cook Out Southern 500

— Place: Darlington Raceway (Darlington, S.C.)

— Track Length: 1.366-mile asphalt oval

— Date: Sunday, Aug. 31

— Time: 6 p.m. ET

— Purse: $10,447,135

— TV: USA, 5:30 p.m. ET

— Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)

— Distance: 501.32 miles (367 Laps)

— Stages: Stage 1 ends on Lap 115, Stage 2 ends on Lap 230 and the Final Stage ends on Lap 367

Southern 500 starting lineup

PositionDriverCar Number1Denny Hamlin112Chase Briscoe193Josh Berry214Tyler Reddick455Kyle Larson56Ross Chastain17Christopher Bell208Bubba Wallace239Austin Dillon310Austin Cindric211William Byron2412Ryan Blaney1213Justin Haley714Joey Logano2215Chris Buescher1716Ty Gibbs5417Daniel Suárez9918Cole Custer4119Erik Jones43

20Shane Van Gisbergen8821Chase Elliott922AJ Allmendinger1623Kyle Busch824Zane Smith3825Michael McDowell7126Carson Hocevar7727Ryan Preece6028Todd Gilliland3429Alex Bowman4830John Hunter Nemechek4231Ty Dillon1032Brad Keselowski633Riley Herbst3534Noah Gragson435Ricky Stenhouse Jr.4736Cody Ware5137Derek Kraus4438Timmy Hill66