By Field Level Media
Sep 27 (Field Level Media) – KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Joey Logano doesn’t mind that rain has played havoc with qualifying for three of the first four races in the NASCAR Cup Series Chase presented by Mobil 1.
With rain wiping out both practice and time trials for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway (3 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Logano will start on the pole for the fourth postseason race.
“I’ll take rain,” said Logano, who earned the top starting spot through a combination of his victory last Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway and the position of his No. 22 Team Penske Ford in owner points.
A three-time series champion – most among full-time active drivers – Logano enters the Kansas race third in the Chase standings, 16 points behind leader Kyle Larson, who will start Sunday’s race beside Logano on the front row.
“Starting up front is always good,” Logano said. “We’ll see if we have enough pace when you’re up there. You have a lot of fast cars around you. We’ll see what we’ve got.”
Logano was first out during a scheduled practice session that was halted by rain almost before it began.
“In a perfect world, we would have gotten to practice, and it rained out qualifying,” Logano quipped. “I thought we were practicing and qualifying when I showed up at the race track this morning. The radar looked pretty good, and the forecast didn’t look that bad either.
“I thought ‘We are going to have to do it the hard way today.’ I guess it rained just enough. The curiosity is going to get the best of me, and I am going to want to know what we’ve got. But I can wait one more night. I will be OK.”
Christopher Bell and Carson Hocevar will start third and fourth, respectively, as Chase drivers occupy the first nine positions on the grid. Ty Gibbs starts fifth, followed by Denny Hamlin (who trails Larson by one point), Bubba Wallace, William Byron and Ryan Preece.
Tenth-place starter Josh Berry is the only non-Chase driver in the top 10.
Other Chase drivers will take the green flag from the following positions: Austin Cindric 11th, Chris Buescher 12th, Daniel Suarez 14th, Tyler Reddick 15th, Chase Elliott 18th, Chase Briscoe 23rd and Ryan Blaney 25th.
The qualifying rainout is particularly tough on Blaney, who will start deep in the field for the second straight week after wrecking out of the Bristol race while contesting second place with Hocevar.
NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – Hollywood Casino 400 Kansas Speedway Kansas City, Kansas Saturday, September 26, 2026
1. (22) Joey Logano (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph. 2. (5) Kyle Larson (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 3. (20) Christopher Bell (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph. 4. (77) Carson Hocevar (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 5. (54) Ty Gibbs (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph. 6. (11) Denny Hamlin (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph. 7. (23) Bubba Wallace (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph. 8. (24) William Byron (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 9. (60) Ryan Preece (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph. 10. (21) Josh Berry, Ford, 0.000 mph. 11. (2) Austin Cindric (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph. 12. (17) Chris Buescher (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph. 13. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 14. (7) Daniel Suarez (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 15. (45) Tyler Reddick (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph. 16. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 0.000 mph. 17. (97) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 18. (9) Chase Elliott (C) @, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 19. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 20. (34) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 0.000 mph. 21. (4) Noah Gragson, Ford, 0.000 mph. 22. (71) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 23. (19) Chase Briscoe (C) @, Toyota, 0.000 mph. 24. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 25. (12) Ryan Blaney (C) @, Ford, 0.000 mph. 26. (42) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 0.000 mph. 27. (88) Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 28. (38) Zane Smith, Ford, 0.000 mph. 29. (41) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 30. (43) Erik Jones, Toyota, 0.000 mph. 31. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 32. (33) Austin Hill(i), Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 33. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 34. (35) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 0.000 mph. 35. (51) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph. 36. (10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
–NASCAR Wire Service
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