For the seventh time this season, Chase Briscoe and the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE will lead the NASCAR Cup Series field to the green flag, after securing the pole for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.
Briscoe was the only driver to dip into the 29-second bracket during Saturday’s single-vehicle qualifying session from the Kansas City, Kansas-based racetrack, posting a lap time of 29.987 seconds (180.078mph) to secure the top spot.
It’s the seventh pole of 2025 for Briscoe and the ninth of his NASCAR Cup Series career.
Entering the weekend, Briscoe, who hasn’t finished outside the top-10 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs through four races, sits on the cutline, with a 12-point advantage over Ross Chastain, who is the first driver below the cutline.
“We’ve been really solid,” Briscoe said. “We haven’t run outside the top-10 in the Playoffs yet, and we’re on the cutline, that’s the crazy thing. “Tomorrow, track position is going to be a big key, and for us to start out front and be able to get stage points is the biggest component of these Playoffs, so as long as we do our job and execute, at least the first stage we should get points and hopefully keep it up there all day long.”
Denny Hamlin will be rolling from the outside of the front row on Sunday in his No. 11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota Camry XSE. It’s the third time this season (Nashville, Darlington, and now Kansas) that Briscoe and Hamlin have shared the front row in a NASCAR Cup Series event.
The teammate theme continued into the second row of the starting lineup for Sunday’s event, as well, with Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott putting down laps good enough for third and fourth place. For Elliott, it’s a great start to the weekend after qualifying 16th or worse in each of the last five NASCAR Cup Series events.
STARTING LINEUP: 2025 NCS Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway
Christopher Bell, a third car out of the Joe Gibbs Racing stable, completed the top five.
Carson Hocevar put down the sixth-fastest lap in qualifying on Saturday at Kansas Speedway and will start Sunday’s 400-miler as the highest-running non-playoff driver in the NASCAR Cup Series field. Bubba Wallace clocked in just behind him in seventh, with Ty Gibbs, Ross Chastain, and Erik Jones rounding out the top-10.
William Byron was the last driver to hit the racetrack in qualifying on Saturday, but could only muster an 11th-place starting spot. Other drivers in the post-season that qualified outside the top-10 include Tyler Reddick (12th), and the three Team Penske drivers who qualified 26th (Cindric), 35th (Logano), and 37th (Blaney).
Despite seeming like the unanimous favorites for the championship after a butt-whooping dealt to the field at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Saturday was anything but ‘Penske Perfect’ for the trio of drivers employed by ‘The Captain’ Roger Penske.
Austin Cindric was on pace to have, at least, a top-five starting spot in Sunday’s event until his No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse went up the racetrack and contacted the outside wall.
Joey Logano put together a horrific lap in qualifying, pacing more than a second and a half off the pole after a near-wreck on his warmup lap. However, the No. 22 may have been dealing with issues from practice, stemming from Logano riding around the racetrack on a flat tire late in the session.
Ryan Blaney didn’t even post a time in qualifying and will be going to a backup car, after blowing a tire in practice and making hard contact with the outside wall. The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion, and winner of the most recent event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, will start shotgun on the field in 38th.
The Hollywood Casino 400, the fifth race in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, will take place on Sunday, September 28 at 3:00 PM ET. Coverage of the event will be on USA Network, Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
