Kansas City, Kansas — Chase Briscoe delivered a standout performance on Saturday, clinching pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Playoff race at Kansas Speedway. His 29.987-second lap at 180.078 mph not only marked his series-best seventh Busch Light Pole Award of the season but also secured the top spot for the Hollywood Casino 400.
Briscoe edged Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin, who clocked 179.474 mph, by just 0.101 seconds. The result underscores Toyota’s growing dominance at intermediate tracks, with six of the top ten qualifying spots secured by Toyota drivers.
Playoff implications were clear as Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports slotted in third and fourth, while Christopher Bell placed fifth, ensuring three Gibbs drivers within the top five. Non-Playoff driver Carson Hocevar impressed in sixth, further shaking up the grid.
For Briscoe, this pole carried special weight as his first at Kansas and the ninth of his career. Reflecting on the slower pace compared to earlier in the year, Briscoe noted that “not a single car in the field ran wide-open through Turns 1 and 2,” praising his team for adapting strategy to the track’s changed dynamics.
The session, however, proved challenging for Team Penske’s Playoff trio. Defending champion Joey Logano struggled with tire issues and will start 35th, while Austin Cindric, sitting 19 points below the cut line, will line up 26th after scraping the wall. Ryan Blaney, already secured into the Round of 8 after his New Hampshire win, crashed during practice and failed to post a qualifying lap, relegating him to 37th on the grid.
With two rounds left in the Playoff’s Round of 12, Sunday’s race promises high-stakes action. Briscoe’s pole positions him as a clear contender, but tire durability, race strategy, and the fight for advancement will define the outcome at Kansas Speedway.
