Late-summer showers at Kansas Speedway on Saturday morning brought good fortune for Joey Logano and the No. 22 Team Penske team. The weather wiped out NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400. As a result, the starting lineup was set by NASCAR’s performance metric formula.
This handed the pole position on a silver platter to Logano, one of the 16 drivers chasing the championship. Logano, who scored his third victory of the season last weekend at Bristol, comes into this race third in the championship fight. Logano sits 16 points behind championship leader, Kyle Larson.
Speaking of Larson, he’ll start from the runner-up spot on the starting grid on Sunday. Larson’s runner-up finish last weekend at Bristol, coupled with being the point leader allowed him enough metric points to start from the outside pole.
In all, Chase contenders swept the top-nine starting spots as Christopher Bell, Carson Hocevar, Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, William Byron and Ryan Preece took spots three through nine.
Josh Berry, the driver of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford, will be the highest-starting non-Chaser as he will roll from the grid in the 10th position on Sunday.
Official Hollywood Casino 400 Starting Lineup
| Pos | Car | Driver | Team | Make | Metric Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 1.600 |
| 2 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1.700 |
| 3 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 4.000 |
| 4 | 77 | Carson Hocevar | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 4.500 |
| 5 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 5.000 |
| 6 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 6.200 |
| 7 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 7.900 |
| 8 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10.200 |
| 9 | 60 | Ryan Preece | RFK Racing | Ford | 10.600 |
| 10 | 21 | Josh Berry | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 11.400 |
| 11 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Team Penske | Ford | 11.900 |
| 12 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford | 13.600 |
| 13 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 14.100 |
| 14 | 7 | Daniel Suarez | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 14.600 |
| 15 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 14.700 |
| 16 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 15.900 |
| 17 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 19.100 |
| 18 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 19.400 |
| 19 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 19.700 |
| 20 | 34 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 19.900 |
| 21 | 4 | Noah Gragson | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 20.500 |
| 22 | 71 | Michael McDowell | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 20.700 |
| 23 | 19 | Chase Briscoe | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 21.600 |
| 24 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 22.300 |
| 25 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 24.900 |
| 26 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | LEGACY MOTOR CLUB | Toyota | 25.900 |
| 27 | 88 | Connor Zilisch | Trackhouse Racing | Chevrolet | 27.300 |
| 28 | 38 | Zane Smith | Front Row Motorsports | Chevrolet | 27.700 |
| 29 | 41 | Cole Custer | Haas Factory Team | Chevrolet | 28.100 |
| 30 | 43 | Erik Jones | LEGACY MOTOR CLUB | Toyota | 28.700 |
| 31 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. | Hyak Motorsports | Chevrolet | 29.700 |
| 32 | 33 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 29.900 |
| 33 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 32.000 |
| 34 | 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Chevrolet | 32.800 |
| 35 | 35 | Riley Herbst | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 32.800 |
| 36 | 10 | Ty Dillon | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 35.400 |
