Briscoe claims Brickyard 400 pole as Hamlin crashes

Chase Briscoe is three-for-three in pole wins for NASCAR Cup Series crown jewel races.

Briscoe will lead the field to the green flag at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after putting down a lap of 183.165 mph (49.136 seconds) in qualifying. He was the second-to-last driver to make a qualifying run when he went to the top of the board. Sunday’s race will be his second start in the Brickyard 400, which is his home race as a native of Mitchell, Ind.

Indianapolis is the third of four crown jewels on the schedule. Briscoe won the pole for the Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600 earlier this year.

“I was super close (to crashing) in all four corners,” Briscoe said. “That’s the closest, I think, I’ve ever gotten to Indy 500 qualifying just being on that absolute ragged edge. Yeah, I thought I was going to lose it a couple of times, but I was able to hold onto it.

“It’s 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 was super cool. So, hopefully, we can keep it up there tomorrow. That’s the one we want to win is tomorrow. I’ve got a really fast Bass Pro Shops Toyota, and hopefully now that we start up front, we can keep it up there.”

It is Briscoe’s fifth pole of the season and the seventh of his Cup Series career.

Briscoe secured the pole when Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin, the last driver on track, crashed off Turn 2. Hamlin, the fastest driver in practice, hit the wall off Turn 2 and spun across the track before hitting the inside wall on the backstretch. Hamlin will come from the rear of the field Sunday in a backup car as he searches for what has been an elusive Brickyard 400 victory.

Bubba Wallace qualified second with a lap of 183.117 mph. Erik Jones qualified third at 182.749 mph and Tyler Reddick qualified fourth at 182.678 mph. Ty Gibbs rounded out the top five at 182.445 mph.

Indianapolis marks the first time Toyota has swept the top five positions in Cup Series qualifying in its history.

William Byron qualified sixth at 182.031 mph, Chris Buescher qualified seventh at 182.013 mph, and Carson Hocevar qualified ninth at 181.837 mph. AJ Allmendinger qualified ninth at 181.822 mph, and Austin Cindric qualified 10th at 181.503 mph.

Shane van Gisbergen qualified 11th. It is a career-best qualifying effort for van Gisbergen on an oval.

Kyle Busch qualified 12th even after making contact with the wall off Turn 2 during his lap. Kyle Larson qualified 13th, Brad Keselowski qualified 14th, Joey Logano qualified 15th, and Christopher Bell qualified 16th.

Alex Bowman qualified 21st, with Ryan Blaney qualifying 24th. Chase Elliott, the point leader, qualified 30th.

John Hunter Nemechek qualified 36th after hitting the wall during his qualifying lap. Nemechek had been fastest in the best five, 10, and 15 lap averages in practice.

UP NEXT: The Brickyard 400 at 2pm ET Sunday.

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