Chase Briscoe scored his seventh Busch Light Pole Award of 2025 for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Chase Briscoe will lead the field to the green flag in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway after storming to his seventh Busch Light Pole Award of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Piloting the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing, the Indiana native ripped off a 29.987-second lap at 180.078 mph to secure the top spot in Saturday’s qualifying session, edging teammate Denny Hamlin by just over a tenth of a second.
Saturday’s effort marked Briscoe’s ninth career Cup pole and his first at the 1.5-mile Kansas oval. It also spotlighted how quickly he has adapted to his new JGR equipment. Since arriving at the organization this year, the 29-year-old has converted his natural one-lap speed into a string of front-row starts that often translate into track position and stage points on Sundays. His seventh pole of the year is the most by any Cup driver since 2017 and highlights a remarkable jump for a competitor who had never scored more than two poles in a season before 2025.
Quick thinking proved as valuable as raw speed in the decisive round. Briscoe and crew chief James Small discovered that the preferred groove through Turns 1 and 2 differed dramatically from what they encountered in the spring Kansas race, forcing the team to recalibrate its approach.
“It was honestly kind of a surprising qualifying session,” Briscoe said. “We came here in the spring, everybody for the most part ran wide open through Turns 1 and 2 and Turns 3 and 4 was the end of the track that kind of determined your lap. This time around, guys were just way slower and not a single guy ran wide open through 1 and 2. What we had prepped for was kind of totally opposite from what we just did there and I thought my team did a really good job of making adjustments for the slower pace and everything that goes into that. We had to adapt for a lot of angles.
“It was an interesting lap. I was watching everything else and noticed nobody ran wide open through 1 and 2 and everyone was way out of the gas. Coming to the green everyone was really out of the gas. When I came to the green, I knew my car was going to be really good and it was all about wide open through 1 and 2. I just told myself to just make a good solid 3 and 4 but don’t give up too much like I did at Darlington and you’re going to have a good shot at the pole. It was a good lap and will be helpful to start up front tomorrow.”
Asked about the new right-side tire compound introduced for the Playoff race, Briscoe said he didn’t feel a major difference.
“No, not really,” he explained. “Just slower. From a feel standpoint I didn’t really notice anything different than I expected in the spring. Maybe just not getting into the corner quite as hard, but the feel was very similar to what I’ve always imagined here. I’m still kind of surprised by the pace change for sure.”
Despite his success this year, Briscoe chuckled at the notion that he has always been a strong qualifier.
“No, horrendous every time,” he admitted. “Sprint cars I was literally the worst qualifier ever, I would be so nervous. In stock cars I always have been the strongest in qualifying for whatever reason. In the past at SHR, I would qualify fifth to 10th a lot, but didn’t show a whole lot because I wasn’t on the pole. The car’s capability is just so much greater now, those fifth-to-10th qualifiers are now second and poles. Qualifying has always been my strongest asset truthfully in stock cars, I just haven’t been able to show it in the Cup Series.”
His approach to time trials, he added, depends on instinct rather than visual markers.
Chase Briscoe has dropped the hammer with gusto on Saturdays, capturing his seventh pole ahead of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
“I don’t know. I don’t use markers, I just go out there and go wide open until I feel like I need to lift and once I go back to the gas I go back to the gas and sometimes I mess it up,” Briscoe said with a grin. “I mess it up more often than not, truthfully. I don’t ever have a preconceived notion by watching videos of where I need to lift, I just go out there and drive it to the limit and if it’s good enough it’s good enough. And sometimes I leave a little bit on the table or I overdo it, 99 percent of the time I overdo it.
“It really comes down to the car, just really good at getting the balance right. I’m not the only JGR car that qualifies well, Denny is on the front row with me, Christopher Bell is up there, Ty Gibbs is really fast. Our cars are just really good, and when your cars are good it just allows you to be more aggressive.”
The distinctive Kansas Busch Light Pole Award trophy, a miniature pedal car, has already sparked playful debate at home.
“That will definitely be a fighting piece at our household,” Briscoe joked. “Having three kids, I have another pedal car from 2016 and Brooks [his son] rides it all the time. He’ll be excited as the older seniority to get the newer one. I guess I’m going to have to try and win one in the spring so all three kids can have one. It’s always a cool part about Kansas with the unique pole trophy. Not every track has a pole trophy so it’s always cool when there’s something neat like that.”
Heading into the second race of the Round of 12, Briscoe is chasing his third victory of 2025. He captured earlier wins at Pocono in June and in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington earlier this month, the latter locking him into the Round of 12 and signaling his emergence as a championship threat.
Consistency has also buoyed the No. 19 team. Briscoe has recorded top-10 finishes in every postseason start thus far and has led a combined 770 laps this season, ranking third-most among full-time drivers. Through 30 races, he owns a 12.8 average finish, the best of his Cup career.
Opportunities abound in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 for more stage points and possibly a ticket into the Round of 8. He begins the day sitting near the Playoff cut line, which means every position gained or lost could influence the championship picture.
Chemistry with crew chief Small has been evident all year. Together they’ve earned poles at Phoenix, Dover, Nashville, Pocono, Michigan and Bristol before adding Kansas to that growing list. Those front-row starts routinely provided control of stage points, choice pit stalls and the clean-air advantages that boost the team’s average running position.
Translating Saturday’s one-lap dominance into a strong 400-mile performance remains the next hurdle. The worn Kansas surface is notorious for long green-flag stretches and shifting balance as rubber builds up, factors Briscoe said the team must stay ahead of during the race.
His victory at Darlington two weeks ago showed he can manage a demanding 500-mile distance under pressure. At Pocono, he prevailed in a tense late restart duel with Hamlin. Those experiences, paired with his qualifying form, make Briscoe one of the favorites as the Playoffs reach their middle round.
Chase Briscoe hopes to clinch his Round of 8 spot with a win in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
Joe Gibbs Racing’s depth was on display Saturday with all four of its drivers qualifying in the top seven with Briscoe on pole, Hamlin alongside on the front row along with Bell and Gibbs close behind. Such organizational strength at intermediate tracks could prove pivotal not only at Kansas but also at Homestead-Miami in the Round of 8.
Fans should expect the No. 19 to be a factor from the drop of the green flag. Track position historically matters at Kansas, where clean air enhances momentum through the sweeping corners. By starting on the pole, Briscoe also secures first choice of pit stalls, a notable advantage for critical green-flag stops.
Momentum aside, Briscoe warned that nothing is guaranteed once the race begins.
“We just have to execute,” he said. “Qualifying’s one thing, but tomorrow is what counts. If we can keep the balance where it needs to be, keep our track position and be there at the end, we’ll give ourselves a shot. That’s all we can ask for at this point of the Playoffs.”
Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400, the 31st race of the season, will span 267 laps with stage breaks at Laps 80 and 165. The green flag is set to wave shortly after 3 p.m. ET with coverage on USA Network, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
As the field lines up, Briscoe will roll off from the pole for the seventh time in 2025, the highest total by a Cup driver in eight seasons, aiming to add to his two-win tally and bolster his bid for a first career Cup Series championship.
