Chase Briscoe Continues to Impress in Qualifying, Takes Kansas Pole

Sep 27, 2025; Kansas City, Kansas, USA; Chase Briscoe during NASCAR Cup Series qualifying at Kansas Speedway. | Kylie Graham-Imagn Images

In an era of NASCAR Cup Series racing, where the margins between the top-half of the grid and bottom half of the grid are so razor-thin, it can't be overstated how important qualifying has become. If Chase Briscoe ends up hoisting the Bill France Cup in Avondale, AZ, later this year, it'll likely be due in large part to his incredible turnaround in performance in qualifying this season.

Briscoe, 30, had just two pole positions in his four-year NASCAR Cup Series career, prior to this season. Heading into the 2025 campaign, Briscoe, who had piloted the No. 14 entry for the now-defunct Stewart-Haas Racing team, made a move to take over the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota from Martin Truex Jr., who was retiring from full-time competition at the conclusion of the 2024 season.

Out of the gates, Briscoe lit it up in qualifying as he scored the pole in the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in February. With his latest pole position coming Saturday afternoon at Kansas Speedway, the driver has now amassed a series-high seven pole positions on the season, and he'll still have five more cracks at it following this weekend's Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas.

Starting Lineup: Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas

It's been quite a turnaround. From a 1.389% pole-winning rate over his first four seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series to an astonishing 22.581% pole-winning rate this season, Briscoe has made some massive gains in qualifying this year.

Now, the driver who comes into Sunday's race as the final driver inside the Playoff cutline hopes it will translate to a good finish on Sunday, which would certainly bolster his hopes of advancing to the Round of 8.

"Just super excited for what we have tomorrow," Briscoe said after securing the pole.

Briscoe continued, "We’ve been really solid. I mean, 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.”

Briscoe will begin from a great position, out front, which should allow him to accrue some Stage Points in Sunday's race.

Playoff Contenders Qualifying Results: Hollywood Casino 400

It was a clean sweep for NASCAR Cup Series Playoff contenders inside the top-five in Saturday's qualifying session at Kansas Speedway. Led by Briscoe, who secured the pole, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, and Christopher Bell also got their weekends started off on the right foot with solid runs in qualifying.

Related: NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Standings Entering Kansas

Hamlin, who will start on the outside of the front row, blamed himself for not being able to take the pole for the Hollywood Casino 400.

"Off of [Turn] 4," Hamlin answered when asked in a TruTV interview where he missed it on his run. "I'm sure you saw it in the data. I felt like I was way up. But I knew I needed to kind of be a little slower off of [Turn] 4, obviously, that was the spot where a lot of guys had some lifting, and I just didn't compensate enough."

Even though he missed out on the pole, Hamlin was encouraged by the speed in his No. 11 Toyota.

Bubba Wallace, in seventh, and Ross Chastain, in ninth, were Playoff contenders who also recorded top-10 qualifying runs at Kansas.

All but three Playoff contenders snagged top-12 starting spots for the Hollywood Casino 400. The only three starting Sunday's race behind the eight ball will be the three Team Penske teammates, Austin Cindric (26th), Joey Logano (35th), and Ryan Blaney (37th).

Blaney and Logano cut tires down in practice, and Blaney pounded the outside wall, which ended his chances of putting in an effort in Saturday's qualifying session. Fortunately, for Blaney, he locked into the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with an impressive win last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Cindric and Logano don't have that same luxury, and if they hope to advance further into the Playoffs, it will likely take a decent day on Sunday with the remainder of the Playoff field starting near the front of the field.

On the strength of a top-10 performance a weekend ago, Logano will begin Sunday's race with a 24-point advantage over the cutline, but with his competition in prime position to score Stage Points, that advantage could be vaporized before the final Stage of the race even begins.

Cindric, on the other hand, comes into this weekend's race at Kansas 19 points below the cutline due to a subpar 17th-place finish last weekend, which was triggered by a miscue on his qualifying run. A similar situation took place for Cindric on Saturday at Kansas as he was turning a solid qualifying lap, only to have a bobble in Turns 3 and 4, which ruined his final lap time.