HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Unseasonably warm temperatures in the high-80s, sunny skies and a championship vibe greeted teams at Homestead-Miami Speedway for Friday’s all-important Busch Light Pole Qualifying session to set the grid for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe ultimately proved himself coolest among the competitors and conditions, claiming the top starting spot with a lap of 166.687 mph in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota – the second pole position of the season and second in just the last three weeks (also at Talladega, Ala.) – for the 31-year-old Indiana-native.
“I feel confident we can contend, but I wouldn’t say I was the dominant car,” Briscoe said. “I definitely feel really really good about it [the race]. I think we’ll be in the mix tomorrow and if we execute, definitely up there.”
Briscoe, a three-race winner this year, edged his JGR teammate Denny Hamlin by only .017-second to claim his 11th career pole. Importantly, however, Hamlin’s front row start in the No. 11 JGR Toyota leads the three drivers still championship eligible heading into Sunday’s season finale.
The championship leader, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson will roll off the 40-car grid from fourth position in the No. 5 Chevrolet. The final driver still vying for the season trophy, JGR’s Christopher Bell, was sixth quickest in the No. 20 JGR Toyota.
Larson holds a commanding 67-point advantage on Bell and a 70-point edge on Hamlin, a three-time Homestead winner. The two JGR teammates both acknowledged all week the long odds of taking the season trophy away from Larson, who is looking to earn a third series title and could become the first driver to win consecutive championships since another Hendrick Motorsports driver, Jimmie Johnson won five straight from 2006-2010.
Larson, who won in the series’ last race here in March, 2025, said he wasn’t entirely satisfied with his qualifying work – his Chevrolet better than he showed on the lap around the South Florida 1.5-miler. But he likes his chances on Sunday and the forward position he’ll start from.
“We qualified well and it’s a long race,” Larson said. “I’m happy to qualify in the front two rows. … we’ll see. There’s going to be fast guys coming from behind too so just hoping we can stay in the top-10 all day.”
The 33-year-old Californian Larson need only finish eighth or better to earn his third title and on Saturday characterized his team’s approach to the weekend as “extremely loose” and “pretty relaxed” – revealing crew members were debating Saturday if a hot dog is a sandwich and if cereal is a soup. Larson smiled, saying “no” to both.
23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick was third quickest in the session, giving Toyota a top-three sweep at the front of the Homestead grid for the third time in the last four races here.
Behind Larson is Team Penske’s Austin Cindric with Bell, Hendrick teammates Chase Elliott and last week’s Martinsville (Va.) Speedway winner William Byron, Penske’s Ryan Blaney and Spire Motorsports Daniel Suarez rounding out the top-10 starting positions.
Of note, the 2012 series champion Brad Keselowski hit the wall exciting Turn 4 on his qualifying lap, spinning his No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Ford Mustang down into the inside wall. He was okay but will make his final full-time start for the team from last place on the 40-car grid.
“I was trying to run the bottom lane in (turns) three and four because the track was so slick, and wanted to see if I could find something down there,” Keselowski said, “and I found something, just wasn’t what I was looking for.”
Although Hamlin just missed out on the pole position Saturday, he was honored for his series best six on the season – the largest single season haul of his career.
–Holly Cain, NASCAR wire service.
NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Homestead, Florida
Saturday, November 7, 2026
1. (19) Chase Briscoe (C) @, Toyota, 166.687 mph.
2. (11) Denny Hamlin (C) @, Toyota, 166.600 mph.
3. (45) Tyler Reddick (C) @, Toyota, 166.477 mph.
4. (5) Kyle Larson (C) @, Chevrolet, 166.343 mph.
5. (2) Austin Cindric (C) @, Ford, 166.021 mph.
6. (20) Christopher Bell (C) @, Toyota, 165.868 mph.
7. (9) Chase Elliott (C) @, Chevrolet, 165.629 mph.
8. (24) William Byron (C) @, Chevrolet, 165.593 mph.
9. (12) Ryan Blaney (C) @, Ford, 165.391 mph.
10. (7) Daniel Suarez (C) @, Chevrolet, 165.304 mph.
11. (33) Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 165.304 mph.
12. (71) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 165.082 mph.
13. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 165.017 mph.
14. (21) Josh Berry, Ford, 164.906 mph.
15. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 164.845 mph.
16. (67) Corey Heim(i), Toyota, 164.820 mph.
17. (17) Chris Buescher (C) @, Ford, 164.785 mph.
18. (23) Bubba Wallace (C) @, Toyota, 164.780 mph.
19. (22) Joey Logano (C) @, Ford, 164.770 mph.
20. (54) Ty Gibbs (C) @, Toyota, 164.704 mph.
21. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 164.604 mph.
22. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, 164.554 mph.
23. (88) Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 164.529 mph.
24. (43) Erik Jones, Toyota, 164.434 mph.
25. (34) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 164.319 mph.
26. (77) Justin Haley(i) (C), Chevrolet, 164.249 mph.
27. (38) Zane Smith, Ford, 164.249 mph.
28. (41) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 164.199 mph.
29. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 164.114 mph.
30. (35) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 163.741 mph.
31. (10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 163.211 mph.
32. (60) Ryan Preece (C) @, Ford, 163.206 mph.
33. (4) Noah Gragson, Ford, 163.191 mph.
34. (97) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 163.157 mph.
35. (51) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 162.660 mph.
36. (42) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 162.656 mph.
37. (62) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 161.570 mph.
38. (44) JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, 160.361 mph.
39. (66) Chad Finchum(i), Ford, 157.059 mph.
40. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 151.732 mph.
