RELATED: Complete Kansas lineup
Matt Kenseth collected the Coors Light Pole Award in Saturday afternoon qualifying for the NASCAR XFINITY Series at Kansas Speedway.
Kenseth drove the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 to a pole-winning lap of 184.906 mph on the 1.5-mile track, notching his fifth pole of the season and 18th of his XFINITY Series career. He’ll start first in Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 (4 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM), the 30th of 33 races for the circuit this season.
Series points leader Chris Buescher was second-fastest at 184.131 mph in the Roush Fenway Racing No. 60 Ford. Regan Smith was third-fastest in the JR Motorsports No. 7 Chevrolet, with Sprint Cup regular Kyle Busch, the defending race winner, fourth-fastest in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 Toyota. XFINITY Series title contender Ty Dillon completed the top five in the Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevrolet.
Defending series champ Chase Elliott crashed during the final five-minute round of qualifying, making significant contact with the Turn 4 wall and sliding his JR Motorsports No. 9 Chevrolet into the frontstretch grass. His team began to unload a backup car off the hauler, which will send him to the rear of the 40-car field for the mid-afternoon start.
The wreck caused a stoppage at the 3:23 mark of the final stage of eliminations. At that point, the 11 other drivers still alive for qualifying had all completed an initial lap. Several of those remaining 11 made another qualifying pass but failed to improve their position.
Buescher enters Saturday’s 300-miler with an 18-point lead over Dillon, a 27-point edge over Elliott and a 45-point cushion over Smith.
BJ McLeod brought qualifying to a temporary halt with nine minutes left in the first round, making a prolonged slide through Turns 3 and 4 in his No. 15 Chevy. McLeod drove through the grass just ahead of the pit entrance and did not advance past the opening 20-minute session.