Sports
Denny Hamlin grabs NASCAR Cup pole at Pocono Raceway
Jun 13, 2026; Long Pond, Pennsylvania, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin (11) during practice and qualifying for The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O’Haren-Imagn Images It’s been a recurring theme in the NASCAR Cup Series in recent weeks. Denny Hamlin is out front.
The veteran driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota claimed his fourth Busch Light Pole position of the season Saturday afternoon at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway and will lead the field to green in Sunday’s Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA (1 p.m. ET on Prime Video, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Of note, with poor weather expected later Sunday afternoon, the green flag start time (1 p.m.) has been moved up two hours earlier than its originally scheduled time.
This marks the 64th pole position of Hamlin’s career and comes as the popular veteran is attempting to win three consecutive races for the first time in his celebrated career after victories the last two weeks in Nashville and Michigan.
He was the last driver to take to the track in Saturday’s qualifying session and just nudged Hendrick Motorsports’ driver Kyle Larson from the top position in the final minutes – Hamlin’s lap of 173.250 mph around the 2.5-mile triangular-shaped Pocono track was .057-second quicker than Larson’s best.
“Certainly had the grip, this whole team just did a great job with adjustments, making it a little better from practice, I didn’t execute a very good lap there in Turn 2, but overall I thought I hit [turns] three and one pretty decent – just good enough,” Hamlin said.
He acknowledged he and the team are certainly on a hot streak at the moment with wins in the non-points paying All-Star Race four weeks ago plus the two victories in the last two weeks. The effort has helped Hamlin cut 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick’s 100-plus point advantage over him atop the standings to only 51 points heading into Pocono, a place Hamlin has won a record seven times.
“It’s certainly going well and confidence is up with these guys [on the team] that every time I enter a corner at about 200, I know they’ve built me a car that’s going to stick,” Hamlin said, acknowledging his three-in-a-row opportunity.
“This is the best shot for sure, we’ve got a little work to do on the car overnight to get it to be a race winner, but I feel like we’re in that box where we need to be and we’ll fine tune it from here.”
Starting behind Hamlin and Larson are Daniel Suarez in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet and Hamlin’s JGR teammates Ty Gibbs (No. 54 Toyota) and defending race winner Chase Briscoe (No. 19 Toyota).
Chris Buescher, who won his first career NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono in 2016, qualified sixth – his No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford the first Ford on the grid. Legacy Motor Club teammates Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek will start their Toyotas seventh and eighth. Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron (No. 24 Chevrolet) and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney (No. 12 Ford) – who also earned his first career series win at Pocono in 2017 – round out the top-10 on the grid.
Of note, 23XI Racing’s Reddick will roll of 15th and his teammate, Bubba Wallace, will start from the rear of the field after a qualifying session accident. RFK owner-driver Brad Keselowski had engine trouble in the session and will start alongside Wallace on the last row.
NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – Great American Getaway 400 presented by VISITPA
Pocono Raceway
Long Pond, Pennsylvania
Saturday, June 13, 2026
1. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 173.250 mph.
2. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 173.067 mph.
3. (7) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 172.881 mph.
4. (54) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 172.771 mph.
5. (19) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 172.639 mph.
6. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, 172.493 mph.
7. (43) Erik Jones, Toyota, 172.450 mph.
8. (42) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 172.160 mph.
9. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet, 171.982 mph.
10. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 171.867 mph.
11. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 171.536 mph.
12. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 171.481 mph.
13. (71) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 171.468 mph.
14. (33) Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 171.308 mph.
15. (41) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 171.210 mph.
16. (45) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 171.207 mph.
17. (2) Austin Cindric, Ford, 171.178 mph.
18. (38) Zane Smith, Ford, 171.132 mph.
19. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 171.090 mph.
20. (21) Josh Berry, Ford, 171.015 mph.
21. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 170.921 mph.
22. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 170.700 mph.
23. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 170.687 mph.
24. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 170.681 mph.
25. (35) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 170.396 mph.
26. (77) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 170.332 mph.
27. (10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 170.264 mph.
28. (88) Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 169.975 mph.
29. (34) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 169.645 mph.
30. (4) Noah Gragson, Ford, 169.565 mph.
31. (97) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 169.202 mph.
32. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 169.128 mph.
33. (51) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 168.262 mph.
34. (78) Daniel Dye(i), Chevrolet, 167.779 mph.
35. (60) Ryan Preece, Ford, 167.532 mph.
36. (62) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 166.015 mph.
37. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 126.518 mph.
38. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 0.000 mph.
–NASCAR Wire Service
Sports
Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani returns to lineup vs. White Sox
Jun 11, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) advances to third base on a hit and run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the fourth inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Star Shohei Ohtani returned to the starting lineup for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ game against the host Chicago White Sox on Saturday.
Ohtani was slated to serve as the designated hitter and bat in the leadoff position on Saturday.
He sat out Los Angeles’ 8-2 setback in the series opener on Friday, one day after left knee inflammation caused his removal from the Dodgers’ 8-6 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Ohtani, 31, is hitting .305 with 13 homers and 40 RBIs this season. The two-way star also has a 6-2 record and a 1.06 ERA in 11 starts on the mound.
The four-time MVP (including each of the last three seasons) has a career .283 batting average with 293 homers and 709 RBIs across 1,081 games with the Los Angeles Angels (2018-23) and Dodgers.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Braves place RHP Spencer Strider (elbow) on injured list
Jun 6, 2026; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves pitcher Spencer Strider (99) pitches the ball against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images The Atlanta Braves placed right-hander Spencer Strider on the 15-day injured list Saturday with elbow inflammation.
Strider, 27, exited in the fourth inning of Friday’s 7-5 loss to the host New York Mets after experiencing soreness.
The former All-Star and 20-game winner surrendered seven runs on six hits (three homers) in three-plus innings.
Strider is 4-2 with a 5.31 ERA through eight starts this season. He has struck out 46 batters, walked 20 and given up nine home runs in 39 innings.
It is the latest setback for Strider since his All-Star campaign in 2023. He made only two starts in 2024 before season-ending elbow surgery, and he began this season on the injured list with a left oblique strain.
The Braves recalled right-hander Anthony Molina from Triple-A Gwinnett in a corresponding move. Molina, 24, made one appearance earlier this season with Atlanta, tossing two hitless innings in an 8-6 win at Colorado on May 1.
–Field Level Media
Sports
George Russell on Barcelona pole, Lewis Hamilton P2
May 23, 2026; Montreal, Quebec, CANADA; Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton (44) during the qualifying session of the Lenovo Grand Prix Du Canada at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images Lewis Hamilton finished just 0.064 seconds behind polesitter George Russell in qualifying for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, a spot Hamilton believes puts his Ferrari team “in a good position to be able to fight” for first place in Sunday’s race.
In finishing just behind the Mercedes driver, Hamilton notched his best qualifying performance ahead of a Grand Prix. His position for Sunday’s 66-lap race will be his first Grand Prix front-row start since 2024’s British Grand Prix.
“All weekend we’ve been kind of four-tenths off these guys [Mercedes], so even with the upgrade we thought maybe that’s where we were,” said Hamilton.
“But for us to be that close, less than a tenth between us, it’s a real showing of the hard work everyone at the factory has done to bring these upgrades to this track, so a big, big thank you to everyone back in Maranello.”
The seven-time World Champion topped Qualifying 1 on Saturday. His teammate, Charles Leclerc, finished less than half-a-tenth behind Russell in Q2 before suffering a crash at the start of Q3.
“We’ve just got to keep pushing, keep developing, and I’m hoping tomorrow we can squeeze some more out of this and I hope we keep up with these guys for once,” Hamilton said.
Runaway championship leader Kimi Antonelli came in third in the other Mercedes, with McLaren’s Lando Norris taking the fourth slot.
“It has been a little bit of a difficult weekend for me, didn’t really have the feeling in the car,” said Antonelli, who has 156 points after just six races, a whopping 66 points ahead of Hamilton and 68 ahead of Russell.
“It’s going to be an interesting race tomorrow,” Russell said. “Lewis did an amazing job to get up there. We thought the fight was with ourselves and McLaren and Lewis was very fast in that session.”
–Field Level Media
Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani returns to lineup vs. White Sox
Braves place RHP Spencer Strider (elbow) on injured list
