LAS VEGAS -- Denny Hamlin will start on the pole for Sunday's South Point 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where tire wear could be an issue.

Joe Gibbs Racing swept the top-four spots with Hamlin, Ty Gibbs, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe and Toyota swept the top-five with Tyler Reddick in fifth. Toyota has only swept the top-five starting spots one other time, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2025.

Hamlin clocked in a lap averaging 186.787 mph around the 1.5-mile track to earn the pole. It's his 53rd career pole in the NASCAR Cup Series and career-high fifth pole of the 2026 season, tying his 2025 season.

"I couldn't have asked for today to go better than it did," Hamlin said. "Today wasn't much different and it won't be much different than tomorrow... I think that what we had today is what we'll have tomorrow... and I liked my car today."

Toyota made a big statement, outpacing points leader Kyle Larson who won at Kansas Speedway over Austin Cindric. Larson and Cindric will start sixth and seventh.

In eighth through 14th, William Byron, Bubba Wallace, Carson Hocevar, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Preece, Chase Elliott and Chris Buescher round out the top-14 starting spots the Chase drivers swept.

Hamlin said "the normal characters" stood out Saturday. Among them weren't Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano, who will start 20th and 23rd, respectively. That raises anxiety that their newfound speed could be fading. 

In the spring, Logano and Blaney finished 15th and 16th respectively, while Hamlin won.

NASCAR Cup Series teams may feel better gambling on the Las Vegas Strip than they will racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after tire issues reared its head while they practiced Saturday.

Hendrick Motorsports led the way in practice with William Byron and Kyle Larson leading Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe. Daniel Suarez also showed some speed overall and on the 10-lap average chart.

However, running well didn't mean avoiding tire issues for Briscoe, who slowed on track with a possible tire issue in practice. He avoided the worst of what happened in practice, unlike Tyler Reddick who brought out the red flag 13 minutes into the 50-minute session with a left-rear tire issue. The car bottomed out and smoked, indicating the issue.

Something similar happened to two Ford drivers -- Josh Berry and Noah Gragson -- who crashed in practice, each with a rear tire issue. In turn two, Berry crashed 31 minutes into practice and Gragson crashed 46 minutes in.

"I thought it was the left-rear but when I got loaded up into one and two on the bottom, I just felt a few vibrations and then it was gone. I definitely didn’t feel it coming otherwise I would have come in, so it was unfortunate to have that happen. The guys will work hard this evening and get us a car together and we’ll do the best we can tomorrow," Berry said.

Ford struggled for speed in practice with no drivers getting into the top-11 overall and just two of them getting into the top-10 on the 10-lap average. Chris Buescher was 12th fastest overall and fourth on the 10-lap average. Ryan Blaney was seventh on the 10-lap average.

Meanwhile, Joey Logano was 23rd overall and 16th on the 10-lap average. He will also start 23rd.

Here's the full lineup: