NASCAR Cup Series qualifying was canceled on Saturday morning at Kansas Speedway due to inclement weather. The starting lineup for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 was set by the metric, the third of four Chase races to have its qualifying session washed out.
Based on the metric, Joey Logano will lead the field to the green flag on Sunday at Kansas. Kyle Larson will start on the outside of the front row, followed by Christopher Bell in third, Carson Hocevar in fourth and Ty Gibbs rounded out the top five.
The sole practice session of the Cup Series was canceled, too, after only four drivers took to the 1.5-mile track for a practice run.
Full NASCAR Cup Series starting lineup at Kansas
Here is the full starting lineup for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400:
- Joey Logano (Chase)
- Kyle Larson (Chase)
- Christopher Bell (Chase)
- Carson Hocevar (Chase)
- Ty Gibbs (Chase)
- Denny Hamlin (Chase)
- Bubba Wallace (Chase)
- William Byron (Chase)
- Ryan Preece (Chase)
- Josh Berry
- Austin Cindric (Chase)
- Chris Buescher (Chase)
- Ross Chastain
- Daniel Suarez (Chase)
- Tyler Reddick (Chase)
- Brad Keselowski
- Shane van Gisbergen
- Chase Elliott (Chase)
- Austin Dillon
- Todd Gilliland
- Noah Gragson
- Michael McDowell
- Chase Briscoe (Chase)
- AJ Allmendinger
- Ryan Blaney (Chase)
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Connor Zilisch
- Zane Smith
- Cole Custer
- Erik Jones
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Austin Hill
- Alex Bowman
- Riley Herbst
- Cody Ware
- Ty Dillon
Chase drivers secured the top 9 starting positions for Sunday’s race. Josh Berry will start the highest of all non-Chase drivers, mainly due to his recent string of strong performances. The driver of the No. 21 has posted seven top 10s in the last eight races.
Seven Chase drivers will begin Sunday’s 267-lap race from outside the top 10 and two of them from outside the top 20. Austin Cindric will roll off 11th, next to Chris Buescher in 12th.
Daniel Suarez, who enters Kansas at the bottom of the Chase standings, starts 14th, while Kansas spring winner Tyler Reddick rolls off 15th.
Defending Hollywood Casino 400 winner Chase Elliott starts from the 18th spot, while Chase Briscoe rolls off 23rd.
After a controversial Bristol race last Saturday, Ryan Blaney starts last among the Chase drivers in 25th.
NASCAR Cup practice at Kansas also canceled
Prior to qualifying, a one-hour practice session for the Cup Series was scheduled to take place. However, Mother Nature had other plans as practice was also canceled due to inclement weather.
Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Alex Bowman all completed one timed lap prior to rain that started to fall at the 1.5-mile track. The practice session never resumed after that.
Hamlin commented on his lap in the media center, saying he was hesitant as he saw the rain trickling down.
“I didn’t have enough trust in it. It was sprinkling during the lap. I just thought I wasn’t going to be the one that backs it in Jeff Gordon-style at Michigan while the track was [rainy],” he said.
Hamlin was referring to a 1994 incident at Michigan International Speedway when Jeff Gordon crashed during a practice session due to rainy track conditions.
NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying, Practice Canceled at Kansas: Who Has The Pole?