Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin took pole position in the #11 Toyota Camry ahead of teammate Chase Briscoe, who wound up just 0.021s in arrears.
Josh Berry was the best of the Ford contingent, qualifying third in the #21 Mustang for Wood Brothers Racing.
Tyler Reddick for 23XI Racing in the #45 Camry was fourth and Kyle Larson fifth in the #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro.
Van Gisbergen’s time put him half a second off Hamlin. His Trackhouse Racing teammates Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez were sixth and 17th respectively.
Christopher Bell (Joe Gibbs Racing), Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing), and Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing) completed the top 10.
Hamlin became the first Toyota driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to reach 40 pole positions.
His Darlington effort marked his 45th career pole and second at the oval dubbed “Too Tough To Tame” for its challenging nature.
“It turned. We struggled with balance really all through race practice, but we made some good adjustments to run one lap,” said Hamlin.
“Felt like it was really good. It did everything I needed it to do and it’s awesome to come here and get pole.
“We’re going to have to work on it,” Hamlin said of his race set-up.
“We definitely have some work to do, no doubt about it. Starting up front is certainly a big advantage.
“We’ll go back, reset tonight, do a bunch of work, and we’ll be stronger tomorrow.”
Monday’s race, a 367-lap affair, gets underway at 8am AEST with coverage on Fox Sports and Kayo Sports.
Results: NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500 Qualifying, Darlington Raceway
| Pos | Num | Driver | Car/Sponsor | Lap | Speed (mph) | Diff | Gap |
| 1 | 11 | Denny Hamlin (P) | Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota | 28.694 | 171.381 | ||
| 2 | 19 | Chase Briscoe (P) | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 28.715 | 171.255 | 0.021 | 0.021 |
| 3 | 21 | Josh Berry (P) | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford | 28.829 | 170.578 | 0.135 | 0.114 |
| 4 | 45 | * Tyler Reddick (P) | Pinnacle Toyota | 28.848 | 170.466 | 0.154 | 0.019 |
| 5 | 5 | Kyle Larson (P) | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 28.925 | 170.012 | 0.231 | 0.077 |
| 6 | 1 | Ross Chastain (P) | Busch Light Retro Chevrolet | 28.933 | 169.965 | 0.239 | 0.008 |
| 7 | 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | Rheem Toyota | 28.962 | 169.795 | 0.268 | 0.029 |
| 8 | 23 | * Bubba Wallace (P) | U.S. Air Force Toyota | 28.985 | 169.66 | 0.291 | 0.023 |
| 9 | 3 | Austin Dillon (P) | BPS/Winchester Deer Season XP Chevrolet | 29.004 | 169.549 | 0.310 | 0.019 |
| 10 | 2 | Austin Cindric (P) | Discount Tire Ford | 29.023 | 169.438 | 0.329 | 0.019 |
| 11 | 24 | William Byron (P) | All-Pro Auto Reconditioning Chevrolet | 29.025 | 169.426 | 0.331 | 0.002 |
| 12 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | Menards/Dutch Boy Ford | 29.032 | 169.386 | 0.338 | 0.007 |
| 13 | 7 | Justin Haley | Gainbridge Chevrolet | 29.06 | 169.222 | 0.366 | 0.028 |
| 14 | 22 | Joey Logano (P) | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 29.08 | 169.106 | 0.386 | 0.020 |
| 15 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Kroger/Tree Top Ford | 29.082 | 169.094 | 0.388 | 0.002 |
| 16 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Monster Energy Toyota | 29.127 | 168.833 | 0.433 | 0.045 |
| 17 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Freeway Insurance Chevrolet | 29.172 | 168.573 | 0.478 | 0.045 |
| 18 | 41 | Cole Custer | Autodesk/HaasTooling Add-In Ford | 29.196 | 168.434 | 0.502 | 0.024 |
| 19 | 43 | Erik Jones | Dollar Tree Toyota | 29.216 | 168.319 | 0.522 | 0.020 |
| 20 | 88 | Shane Van Gisbergen # | WeatherTech Chevrolet | 29.223 | 168.278 | 0.529 | 0.007 |
| 21 | 9 | Chase Elliott (P) | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 29.226 | 168.261 | 0.532 | 0.003 |
| 22 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Black’s Tire Chevrolet | 29.234 | 168.215 | 0.54 | 0.008 |
| 23 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Morgan & Morgan Chevrolet | 29.235 | 168.209 | 0.541 | 0.001 |
| 24 | 38 | * Zane Smith | TitleMax Ford | 29.245 | 168.152 | 0.551 | 0.01 |
| 25 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | Chili’s Ride the ‘Dente Chevrolet | 29.249 | 168.129 | 0.555 | 0.004 |
| 26 | 71 | Michael McDowell | Delaware Life Chevrolet | 29.249 | 168.129 | 0.555 | 0.000 |
| 27 | 60 | Ryan Preece | Trimble Ford | 29.254 | 168.1 | 0.56 | 0.005 |
| 28 | 34 | * Todd Gilliland | Grillo’s Pickles Ford | 29.263 | 168.048 | 0.569 | 0.009 |
| 29 | 48 | Alex Bowman (P) | Ally Chevrolet | 29.269 | 168.014 | 0.575 | 0.006 |
| 30 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota | 29.327 | 167.682 | 0.633 | 0.058 |
| 31 | 10 | Ty Dillon | Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet | 29.338 | 167.619 | 0.644 | 0.011 |
| 32 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | BuildSubmarines.com Ford | 29.401 | 167.26 | 0.707 | 0.063 |
| 33 | 35 | * Riley Herbst # | Chumba Casino Toyota | 29.445 | 167.01 | 0.751 | 0.044 |
| 34 | 4 | * Noah Gragson | Long John Silver’s Ford | 29.511 | 166.636 | 0.817 | 0.066 |
| 35 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Pudgy Penguins Chevrolet | 29.663 | 165.782 | 0.969 | 0.152 |
| 36 | 51 | Cody Ware | Parts Plus Ford | 29.997 | 163.936 | 1.303 | 0.334 |
| 37 | 44 | * Derek Kraus | Chevrolet | 30.451 | 161.492 | 1.757 | 0.454 |
| 38 | 66 | * Timmy Hill(i) | Garage 66 Ford | 31.025 | 158.504 | 2.331 | 0.574 |
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