TC Daily Pit Stop: Corey Heim, Connor Zilisch Take Wins -- Again -- in NASCAR Trucks and Xfinity Races; Denny Hamlin on Southern 500 Pole
TC Daily Pit Stop: Sunday, August 31st, 2025
Denny Hamlin Defeats ‘Crown Jewel Chase’ Briscoe to Win Southern 500 Pole
Denny Hamlin began his quest for a first career NASCAR Cup Series championship by scoring a pole for the Playoff-opening event at Darlington Raceway, the crown jewel Cook Out Southern 500. In doing so, he thwarted Chase Briscoe, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, who was attempting to become the first driver to ever sweep the poles at all four crown jewel events in a single season.
Hamlin was impressed that he was able to have a car capable of the pole after a lackluster outing in practice earlier in the day.
“It turned. We struggled with the balance, really, all during race practice, and made some good adjustments there to go one lap, and it felt like it was really good. The SportClips Toyota did everything I needed it to do,” Hamlin told TruTV after his lap. “It’s awesome to come here and get a pole.”
Hamlin took the pole position with a lap time of 28.694 seconds (171.381 mph) around the 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval. The pole marks the 45th of Hamlin’s career.
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OFFICIAL STARTING LINEUP
PRACTICE RESULTS
Corey Heim Secures Eighth Win of 2025 in Darlington Playoff Opener
Corey Heim simply keeps winning in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The 23-year-old racer took his eighth win of the 2025 season on Saturday afternoon as he claimed the win in the Sober or Slammer 200 at Darlington Raceway.
Heim, who, along with Layne Riggs, was the class of the field, was in a class of his own after Riggs suffered a late-race tire failure, which relegated him to the rear of the lead lap.
In the end, Heim would hold off Daniel Hemric to take the victory, which is now his 19th in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competition, and his eighth win of the season is one shy of Greg Biffle’s all-time series record of nine wins, which he achieved in 1999.
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OFFICIAL RACE RESULTS
Connor Zilisch Takes Eighth Win of 2025 in Bonkers Finish at Portland
Connor Zilisch put in yet another dominant performance in the NASCAR Xfinity Series as he led 70 of 78 laps in Saturday’s Pacific Office Automation 147 at Portland International Raceway, but due to some late-race chaos, he needed to use an unconventional path to pull off the win.
As Zilisch obtained massive damage to the right rear quarterpanel on a late-race restart, the driver found himself looking to pass Austin Hill in an overtime restart attempt.
As Zilisch carried too much speed into Turn 1, he cut off the racing surface to perform a pass through the designated penalty zig-zag course at PIR. As Zilisch was performing the pass-through, Sammy Smith was turned across the front of the field, which led to a stack-up through the field, which allowed Zilisch to come out of the pass-through penalty zone with the lead.
He wouldn’t look back as he’d hold off William Sawalich for the win.
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OFFICIAL RACE RESULTS
Other NASCAR Headlines:
Chase Briscoe: From Cinderella Story to Legitimate Title Contender
Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing Prepared, Confident for Playoff Run
Jake Garcia Leaning on Champion Teammates in First Playoff Bid
NASCAR, 23XI/Front Row Spar in Ugly Thursday Injunction Hearing
Frankie Muniz (Distal Radius Fracture) Out for Darlington Race; Maggio to Fill-In
Trevor Bayne Joins TRICON for Truck Series Return at Darlington
Austin Dillon Not Resting on Laurels After Making 2025 Playoff Field
SUNDAY’S TV SCHEDULE
6:00 PM ET: NASCAR Cup Race (USA Network)
Darlington / Portland - Weekend Resources:
NASCAR Cup Series:
Entry List | Practice Results | Starting LineupNASCAR Xfinity Series:
Entry List | Practice Results | Starting Lineup | Race ResultsNASCAR Craftsman Truck Series:
Entry List | Practice Results | Starting Lineup | Race Results
2025 NASCAR Season Resources:
Schedules: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks
Driver Points: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks
Owner Points: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks
Rookie Standings: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks
Manufacturer Standings: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks
2025 Driver/Team Charts: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks
2026 Driver/Team Charts: NASCAR Cup | NASCAR Xfinity | NASCAR Trucks