By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service
KANSAS CITY, Kan.—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.
Interview: NCS Pole Winner – Chase Briscoe (No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota) –
