NASCAR Qualifying Results: Cup Series legend shines on return as 23XI suffer disaster

Denny Hamlin came back to the NASCAR Cup Series in style after missing last weekend's race at Mexico City, taking a brilliant pole at Pocono.

Absent last weekend due to the birth of his son, the driver of the No. 11 car wasted no time in reminding his rivals why he's one of the favorites for this year's championship, putting his car first in a hugely impressive effort.

Hamlin made it around the 2.5 mile Tricky Triangle in 52.144sec, 0.083sec faster than Chris Buescher in second and nearly quarter of a second better than Carson Hocevar in third.

Hocevar bounced back strongly after a tough week, with the embattled sophomore driver being fined $50,000 by his team after disparaging comments about Mexico on a livestream, and a number of pundits and ex-drivers also on his case after he made contact twice with Ricky Stenhouse Jr..

The two aren't likely to meet too early in Sunday's race though, with Hocevar starting third and Stenhouse Jr. down in 30th place, a second and a half off the pace.

Starting even further back than Stenhouse Jr., though, will be Bubba Wallace, after his 23XI team couldn't get his car fired up thanks to an apparent starter motor issue which left him unable to set a lap time.

With that said, let’s take a look at Saturday’s qualifying results in full!

NASCAR HEADLINES: Denny Hamlin setback confirmed as Joe Gibbs Racing await penalty fate

NASCAR Cup Series: Who is on pole at Pocono?

After qualifying on Saturday, here is the starting lineup for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocano, with the leading lap time and gaps included.

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