Chase Briscoe grabs NASCAR Cup Series pole at Kansas Speedway
Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images
KANSAS CITY, Kansas—Chase Briscoe returned to his pole-winning ways on Saturday at Kansas Speedway, earning his series-best seventh Busch Light Pole Award of the season for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET (3 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The only driver to exceed 180 mph at the 1.5-mile intermediate speedway, Briscoe turned a lap in 29.987 seconds (180.078 mph) to edge Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin (179.474 mph) for the top starting spot in the second Round of 12 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race by 0.101 seconds.
With Christopher Bell qualifying fifth at 179.015 mph, JGR Playoff drivers claimed three of the top five starting spots. Hendrick Motorsports Playoff drivers Kyle Larson (179.396 mph) and Chase Elliott (179.063 mph) qualified third and fourth, respectively, in their Chevrolets.
The pole was Briscoe’s first at Kansas and the ninth of his career. What surprised the driver of the No.19 Toyota was a slow-down in qualifying speeds from May of this year, when Larson earned the top spot on the grid with a lap at 183.730 mph.
“This time around, not a single car in the field ran wide-open through (Turns) 1 and 2,” said Briscoe, who hadn’t won a pole since early August at Iowa Speedway. “Everything we had prepped for was kind of totally opposite from what we just did there.
“I thought my team did a really good job of making adjustments for the slower pace and everything that goes into that.”
Non-Playoff driver Carson Hocevar qualified sixth, with Playoff drivers Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain claiming the seventh and ninth spots, respectively. Ty Gibbs was eighth fastest, and Erik Jones completed the top 10, giving Toyota drivers six of the top 10 starting positions.
Playoff drivers William Byron and Tyler Reddick will start 11th and 12th. Non-Playoff driver Josh Berry was 13th in the fastest Ford.
The qualifying session and the practice that preceded it were particularly challenging for Team Penske Playoff drivers Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano and Austin Cindric. Blaney, already locked into the Round of 8 with his victory last Sunday at New Hampshire, blew a right-rear tire in practice and crashed into the outside wall.
Blaney did not post a qualifying lap and will start 37th on Sunday. Logano, the defending series champion, also suffered a problem with the new right-side tire in practice and will start 35th.
“I just felt it starting to feel funky through (Turns) 3 and 4,” said Logano, who starts the race 24 points above the current cut line for the Round of 8. “It just didn’t feel right (in practice), so I took it a little safe than sorry and lifted off in the corner, which is when it really came apart.
“I’m glad I caught it there. I got a little lucky, but, overall, it should be OK with the Shell/Pennzoil Mustang. We’ll put four tires on it, make some adjustments, cross our fingers and hope she runs good.”
Cindric scraped the outside wall on his qualifying lap and will start 26th. Cindric comes to Kansas 19 points below the elimination line for the next round.
NASCAR Cup Series
Starting Line Up by Row
Kansas Speedway
Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 9/27/2025 @ 02:57 PM Eastern
Driver Date Time Speed
Track Race Record: Chase Elliott 10/21/18 02:38:02 152.057
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
Row 1: 1 19 Chase Briscoe (P) Bass Pro Shops Toyota 29.987 180.078
2 11 Denny Hamlin (P) Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota 30.088 179.474
Row 2: 3 5 Kyle Larson (P) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 30.101 179.396
4 9 Chase Elliott (P) Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet 30.157 179.063
Row 3: 5 20 Christopher Bell (P) Rheem Toyota 30.165 179.015
6 77 Carson Hocevar Delaware Life Chevrolet 30.228 178.642
Row 4: 7 23 Bubba Wallace (P) U.S. Air Force Toyota 30.274 178.371
8 54 Ty Gibbs SAIA LTL Freight Toyota 30.289 178.283
Row 5: 9 1 Ross Chastain (P) Kubota Chevrolet 30.292 178.265
10 43 Erik Jones Advent Health Toyota 30.314 178.136
Row 6: 11 24 William Byron (P) Cincinnati Chevrolet 30.326 178.065
12 45 Tyler Reddick (P) The Beast Toyota 30.328 178.053
Row 7: 13 21 Josh Berry Menards/Dutch Boy Ford 30.335 178.012
14 4 Noah Gragson Beef A Roo Ford 30.390 177.690
Row 8: 15 17 Chris Buescher Body Guard Ford 30.391 177.684
16 3 Austin Dillon BPS/Winchester Deer Season XP Chevrolet 30.419 177.521
Row 9: 17 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 30.422 177.503
18 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ram Self Storage Chevrolet 30.434 177.433
Row 10: 19 60 Ryan Preece Kroger/Minute Rice Ford 30.438 177.410
20 16 AJ Allmendinger Action Industries Chevrolet 30.452 177.328
Row 11: 21 71 Michael McDowell Gainbridge Chevrolet 30.491 177.101
22 7 Justin Haley NationsGuard Chevrolet 30.498 177.061
Row 12: 23 34 Todd Gilliland Dean's Dip Ford 30.504 177.026
24 88 Shane Van Gisbergen # Red Bull Chevrolet 30.528 176.887
Row 13: 25 42 John Hunter Nemechek Dollar Tree Toyota 30.566 176.667
26 2 Austin Cindric (P) Discount Tire Ford 30.589 176.534
Row 14: 27 41 Cole Custer Haas/Andy's Ford 30.592 176.517
28 38 Zane Smith Speedy Cash Ford 30.631 176.292
Row 15: 29 8 Kyle Busch Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet 30.667 176.085
30 99 Daniel Suarez Freeway Hispanic Heritage Chevrolet 30.727 175.741
Row 16: 31 6 Brad Keselowski Solomon Plumbing Ford 30.728 175.735
32 35 Riley Herbst # Monster Energy Toyota 30.758 175.564
Row 17: 33 10 Ty Dillon Draft Kings Chevrolet 30.836 175.120
34 51 Cody Ware Evel Knievel Museum Ford 31.113 173.561
Row 18: 35 22 Joey Logano (P) Shell Pennzoil Ford 31.538 171.222
36 44 JJ Yeley(i) PCNY Concierge Chevrolet 32.280 167.286
Row 19: 37 12 Ryan Blaney (P) Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford 0.000 0.000
Did Not Qualify: None.
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 16 0 Ford 12 0
Toyota 9 0
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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