With two victories and now three pole positions, Kansas Speedway is a racetrack that suits Brandon Jones.
The 28-year-old driver convincingly captured the pole for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Kansas Lottery 300 at the 1.5-mile racetrack in Kansas City, beating out his Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammate Taylor Gray.
While behind the wheel of the No. 20 Menards Toyota GR Supra, Jones blasted around the Kansas Speedway in 31.140 seconds, a lap with an average speed equivalent of 173.410mph to earn his first pole position of 2025.
A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Jones recorded his 13th pole position in the Xfinity Series on Saturday, and his first since returning to Joe Gibbs Racing after two seasons with JR Motorsports. It’s the second straight pole at Kansas for the driver of the bright yellow Menards-sponsored machine.
“I know we’ve been working so hard on this qualifying effort all year long, and it’s felt like maybe one of the only weaknesses on this No. 20 group,” Jones said post-qualifying. “So, we backed it up today, we’re in the Playoffs.”
Despite sitting on the pole in each of the last two NASCAR Xfinity Series events at Kansas with two different organizations and manufacturers, Jones says that he still doesn’t believe he has time trials at this place figured out.
“We had to make so many last-minute line decisions; this place is so mentally difficult to qualify at, I still haven’t figured it quite out,” Jones added. “I qualified here last year on the pole. I ran the third lane at both ends. Nobody was able to do that today, and last minute, like two cars before I went out, we just decided we had to go to the bottom.”
Taylor Gray, a rookie teammate to Brandon Jones at Joe Gibbs Racing, fell about a tenth of a second short of his fourth pole in the NASCAR Xfinity Series — after securing pole positions earlier this season at Homestead, Charlotte, and Dover.
Haas Factory Team driver Sam Mayer laid down a lap good enough for a third-place starting spot, by far the best effort for a driver out of the Ford Racing stable.
Brenden Queen, the soon-to-be champion of the ARCA Menards Series and the winner of Friday’s ARCA event at Kansas, will roll from the fourth position after an incredible qualifying run in the No. 11 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing.
Defending NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Justin Allgaier completed the top-five.
William Sawalich continued to showcase a strong stretch of speed in the No. 18 SoundGear Toyota GR Supra with a sixth-place qualifying run, while Connor Zilisch settled for a seventh-place qualifying effort — his worst qualifying effort since Indianapolis (in July).
In a one-off ride for Hendrick Motorsports in the No. 17 Chevrolet, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regular Rajah Caruth notched a career-best qualifying result, putting the HendrickCars.com-sponsored entry in eighth.
Dean Thompson also put together a career-best qualifying effort just behind in ninth, driving the No. 26 Toyota GR Supra for Sam Hunt Racing. Sheldon Creed rounded out the top-10 in the No. 00 Ford Mustang Dark Horse.
In 11th place, 35-year-old retina surgeon Dr. Patrick Staropoli also recorded a career-best qualifying effort. Staropoli is driving the second NASCAR Xfinity Series entry for Sam Hunt Racing, the No. 24 Toyota GR Supra.
Other drivers in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs that failed to qualify inside the top-10 for Saturday’s event include Jesse Love (12th), Nick Sanchez (13th), Sammy Smith (14th), Austin Hill (17th), Harrison Burton (18th), and Carson Kvapil (19th).
Justin Bonsignore, driving the No. 19 Toyota GR Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing, qualified in 16th. The No. 19 is in the Owner’s Playoffs, but is locked into the next round courtesy of Aric Almirola’s victory at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Only NASCAR Xfinity Series rookie driver Daniel Dye didn’t post a qualifying run on Saturday, after a mechanical issue in practice that had to be addressed by his Kaulig Racing team.
Glen Reen, driving the No. 35 Ford Mustang for Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen, was the sole driver who failed to qualify for Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300, which will take place on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 PM ET on The CW.
