Denny Hamlin Wins Pole in Chicago for Debut NASCAR Street Race
Photo Courtesy: Zach Catanzareti
Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 driver Denny Hamlin won the pole for the first-ever NASCAR street race and will start up front in the Grant Park 225. Hamlin outlasted 23XI Racing No. 45 driver Tyler Reddick and Trackhouse Racing No. 91 driver Shane Van Gisbergen to earn his third pole position this season.
NASCAR takes to the streets of Chicago this weekend for its first-ever street race. While the series has visited many road courses over the years, this is the first time the sport has created a track out of city streets.
“When you see the fans that are walking around here on a Saturday, their excitement of seeing a NASCAR race car up close, taking pictures, it’s kind of like this is what we were supposed to do here,” Hamlin said. “It was just a great day, probably my single best day at the racetrack in all of my career.”
Hamlin had said on his podcast previously that his goal was to focus on the weight of the event as opposed to the negativity of what the on-track side could be.
With a brand new course, there was uncertainty over how the race could run and that it might be too tight to allow passing. Drivers found more grip throughout the track than was originally expected from iRacing simulations which allowed for higher speeds in and out of corners. The straightaways are also wider than what was believed, giving more space for action.
“The extra paving that they did for the race track made it significantly better,” Hamlin said. “They did a really good job of smoothing out some of the big jumps that we had down these straightaways.”
Hamlin ran an 88.435-second lap on his final run with an average speed of 89.557mph to capture the pole. Reddick closed out his qualifying run .044-seconds back from Hamlin and will start in the front row. Michael Jordan is a team owner of 23XI alongside Denny Hamlin making the duo’s Chicago front-row start even more special.
“Michael is really proud of that team and the growth that they’ve got, the speed that they’ve got in such a short amount of time that [23XI] has been around,” Hamlin said. “For me personally, it would be right up there, it would have to be a top-five win for me if were able to do it.”
Australian Supercars driver and Trackhouse’s latest Project 91 driver Van Gisbergen held the top spot through a lot of the final qualifying round but was bested in the final seconds despite improving on his own top lap with an average speed of 89.403mph. Though, a third-place start in his NASCAR debut is quite the feat for the three-time Supercars Champion.
“The biggest thing I noticed is [Van Gisenberg] is lightning-fast in all of the corners,” Hamlin said. “I feel super uncomfortable using that extra three inches against the wall. Where the track is the narrowest […] is where he is extremely fast, he just has a feel for those barriers and the car control that he has, that’s his advantage right now. We’re not used to cutting the corners that tight and he is.”
JGR No. 20 driver Christopher Bell and Trackhouse No. 99 driver Daniel Suárez rounded out the top five in qualifying.
2009 F1 Champion Jensen Button is running in the No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford after debuting in NASCAR earlier this season at Circuit of the Americas where he placed 18th. He will start 7th, improving from his 24th-place start at COTA.
Hendrick Motorsports No. 9 driver Chase Elliott crashed during qualifying and will need to switch to his backup car which means that he will be starting in the rear of the field.
JTG Daugherty Racing No. 47 driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was not able to run in qualifying after he crashed during practice.
Kevin Harvick struggled on the course all day and had the worst qualifying time before he crashed out.
The Grant Park 225, NASCAR’s first street race is Sunday, July 2 at 5:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.