Briscoe Bags Seventh Cup Pole Of 2025 In Kansas Drills
Chase Briscoe with the Busch Light Pole Award at Kansas Speedway. (Gavin Baker/Nigel Kinrade Photography)
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Chase Briscoe recaptured his NASCAR Cup Series qualifying magic Saturday at Kansas Speedway with his series-leading seventh pole position of the season.
Going out late among the 12 remaining playoff contenders, Briscoe toured the 1.5-mile oval in America’s Heartland in 29.987 seconds (180.078 mph) with the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE.
It was enough to edge out Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin for top honors, marking his ninth career Cup Series pole and first at Kansas going into the middle race of the Round of 12.
“Man, it just feels good to get back to our normal qualifying form, really,” said Briscoe after his run. “This is a great day and a great way to get our Round of 12 kicked into high gear. After going [bass] fishing in the morning with [Bass Pro Shops founder] Johnny Morris, to cap it off with a pole here at kind of a home race for them makes me super excited for the race.
“I felt like our car was pretty good in practice, also, so if we can keep ourselves up front … it’d definitely be nice to win our way to the [final] eight and not even have to deal with the chaos of the [Charlotte Motor Speedway] ROVAL next weekend.”
Joining Briscoe on the front row for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 is Hamlin, who initially displaced Carson Hocevar to top the charts before Briscoe bettered him moments later.
The Chesterfield, Va., native turned a lap of 30.088 seconds (179.474 mph) with the No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota, lining up second as he chases his second win of the playoffs and sixth on the year overall.
In reflecting on his qualifying effort, Hamlin circled a moment off turn four as the turning point in the lap that cost him the time he needed to beat Briscoe’s mark.
“I’m sure it’ll show in the [SMT] data, but I felt like I was way up the racetrack and knew I needed to be just a little slower coming off of turn four,” Hamlin explained. “A lot of guys had some lifting in that portion … and I just didn’t compensate quite enough getting back to the throttle.
“I knew I got through [turns] one and two really well, but to be second, honestly … with standing on the brakes as hard as I did on the exit of turn four, I’ll take that.”
Hendrick Motorsports drivers line up together on row two in Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, with Christopher Bell lining up fifth to give JGR three of the top five grid positions.
Hocevar was the highest-qualifying non-playoff driver in sixth, followed by Bubba Wallace, Ty Gibbs, Ross Chastain, and Erik Jones.
Toyotas claimed six of the top 10 positions on the starting grid going into race day on Sunday.
Playoff drivers starting just outside the top 10 include William Byron (11th) and Tyler Reddick (12th), but deeper in the pack, it was a disastrous Saturday for the whole of Team Penske.
Austin Cindric slapped the wall exiting turn four on his time-trial lap, starting 26th as a result, while Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney both cut tires during practice that severely hampered their following efforts.
Logano’s car remained wounded from its incident, and he was only able to muster the 35th-best lap of the 37 cars, while Blaney pounded the wall midway through practice and did not go out to qualify.
As a result, Blaney starts last Sunday, though his playoff advancement is already guaranteed after he won the opening race of the Round of 12 a week ago at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Broadcast coverage of the Hollywood Casino 400 airs Sunday at 2 p.m. ET, live on USA, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
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