Chase Briscoe’s outing at Kansas Speedway couldn’t have gotten off to a greater begin as he snatched his seventh pole of the season, ending narrowly forward of Denny Hamlin.
Briscoe, sitting eighth within the Spherical of 12 standings, clocked a lap time of 29.987 seconds, topping 180 mph on the 1.5-mile oval. Hamlin, the winningest energetic driver on the monitor, got here shut however needed to accept second at 179.474 mph, lacking the mark by 0.101 seconds.
For Briscoe, it marked his first pole at Kansas and the ninth of his Cup profession. What shocked him most was the drop in qualifying speeds in comparison with Might, when Kyle Larson set the bar at 183.730 mph. This time, nobody within the subject might maintain it broad open by means of Turns 1 and a couple of. Briscoe credited his workforce for giving him a quick automobile.
On his method to qualifying, Briscoe admitted his model is extra intuition than calculation. “I don’t know. I don’t use markers, I simply go on the market and go broad open till I really feel like I must checklist, and as soon as I’m going again to the fuel, I’m going again to the fuel, and generally I mess it up. I mess it up as a rule, honestly.”
“I don’t ever have a preconceived notion by watching movies of the place I must carry, I simply go on the market and drive it to the restrict, and if it’s adequate, it’s adequate. And generally I go away slightly bit on the desk, or I overdo it, 99% of the time I overdo it,” the Joe Gibbs Racing driver continued.
Even with the pole, Briscoe deflected credit score to the power of the whole Joe Gibbs Racing camp. Alongside his No. 19 Toyota, Hamlin will begin on the entrance row, Christopher Bell certified fifth, and Ty Gibbs confirmed sturdy velocity as effectively. In accordance with Briscoe, the JGR vehicles are acting at a excessive stage, and when the vehicles are that good, it permits the drivers to be extra aggressive.
Behind them, Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott locked down third and fourth at 179.396 and 179.063 mph, respectively. Ryan Blaney, contemporary off his New Hampshire win, didn’t report a qualifying lap and can begin thirty seventh.
Defending sequence champion Joey Logano additionally bumped into hassle, coping with a right-side tire challenge in apply that left him thirty fifth on the grid.
It capped a tough day for Group Penske’s playoff trio. Blaney wrecked in apply after a right-rear tire failure despatched him into the skin wall, whereas each Logano and Austin Cindric struggled to seek out grip all through the session. For Briscoe and Hamlin, nevertheless, the entrance row at Kansas alerts they’re prepared to guide the cost when the inexperienced flag drops.
