For Hamlin, it's his 47th Cup Series Busch Light Pole Award and fifth of the season. In a year filled with the trials of legal battles with NASCAR, Hamlin could cap a 20-year career with a storybook end Sunday. Battling the best for 312 laps is all that stands between him and the Cup.

“There's never a disadvantage just starting first,” Hamlin said. 

However, he does not believe winning the pole is the end-all be-all for a championship. In 2024, NASCAR moved the timing line further down from pit stall one, eliminating a prior advantage.

“(The advantage) did go away over the last couple of years,” Hamlin said. “But for myself, it probably takes a little bit of pressure, having to get all of it on my portion rolling.”

That said, Hamlin isn’t overly emphasizing the power of pit road come Sunday afternoon.

“I truly believe, tomorrow, the best cars, whoever it is, and it could be someone that pulled by 20th, can make their way to the front with the tire and the track surface,” Hamlin said.

The 44-year-old also topped fellow title competitors in Friday's practice. As for the racecar, the No. 11 crew has three weeks to massage Hamlin’s Progressive Toyota. They earned that extra time by defeating Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe on a late race restart at Las Vegas.

“I think the benefit was winning in Vegas,” Hamlin said of his pace. “They were getting too much work done before this week. That way, this week is not crammed so much. There's not much different other than there's just more people, truthfully.”

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver leads teammate Chase Briscoe (12th) and the Hendrick Motorsports duo of Kyle Larson (3rd) and William Byron (2nd). The green flag is set for 12 p.m. ET on NBC.