Denny Hamlin has been having a spectacular run in the last few races. This weekend at Pocono, he added another feather in his cap by securing a pole position for the NASCAR Cup Series race. While talking about his achievement, he also opened up about taking inspiration from former driver Ryan Newman.

During qualifying on Saturday at Pocono, Hamlin secured his third pole position of the 2026 season. He put in a lap of 173.250 mph, becoming only one of two drivers besides Kyle Larson to do so.

It was his 51st career Cup Series pole, which equaled Ryan Newman’s record of ninth on the all-time list. During his media availability after the qualifying session, Denny Hamlin was questioned by Jeff Gluck about equalling Newman’s record.

The No. 11 driver admitted to taking a book out of Newman’s page for qualifying. He said (via Cup Scene on YouTube):

"Yeah, I mean it's interesting. I was telling Kelly earlier that my algorithm feeds me Newman qualifying laps all the time, you know, on X. So, like I see it all the time, I'll sit around for those 15 or 30 seconds wherever it is and watch it because I love the nostalgia of it."

Hamlin further spoke about how many former NASCAR drivers were able to optimize the pace they found in the car to put in a fast lap. But it was Ryan Newman who managed to do it better than his peers.

"But yeah, they just, I don't know what they had going on back then. I mean, back then, you were able to find an advantage. But he just was able to execute one lap just so much better than everyone else."

"And so you look at him, and he had a fast car, but he also like did an incredible job of getting back to the gas quicker than everybody else, hitting his marks. He was the guy. I mean, they called him Rocket for a reason, but it was amazing," the three-time Daytona 500 winner added.

Starting on pole, Hamlin will now look to extend his winning streak and make it a three-peat at the tri-oval after winning in Nashville and Michigan.

Denny Hamlin Eyes the Elite 60-60 NASCAR Club

Denny Hamlin has been one of the most consistent drivers in NASCAR's modern era. He has built an impressive resume over the last 20 years, and has more than 50 race wins and 50 career poles, becoming the seventh driver ever to enter the 50-50 club.

The exclusive club has NASCAR legends such as Richard Petty, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Allison, among others. While talking about reaching that mark in the post-qualifying press conference, Hamlin expressed his desire to enter the 60-60 club. He said:

"But, it's awesome that, you know, when you were bringing up kind of the 50-50 thing and then, you know, my next thing was like, okay, so who's 60-60? Like, can I get there? Like that would eliminate three more guys out of that list."

Denny Hamlin has admitted that 2027 could be his final year racing in NASCAR. He already has over 60 Cup wins to his name, and getting to 60 poles in a year and a half of racing shouldn't be far-fetched if he can continue his form.

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Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco

Edited by

Yash Kotak