Joey Logano’s Hot Streak Continues as Kansas Rain Sends Him to the Pole

Joey Logano was more than ready to put his No. 22 Team Penske Ford on the track Saturday morning and fight for another starting spot at the front of the field. Instead, the weather made the decision for him. Rain moved into Kansas Speedway before NASCAR Cup Series practice could officially get underway, eventually forcing NASCAR to cancel both practice and qualifying and determine Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 starting lineup through its performance metric. For Logano, that decision turned a race he expected to qualify for into another opportunity to start a NASCAR Cup Series playoff race from the pole.

The three-time Cup Series champion enters Kansas with momentum already on his side after winning the Bristol Night Race one week earlier. That victory became the biggest factor in determining where Logano would start this weekend because NASCAR’s metric places 70% of its weight on the previous race finish and 30% on the championship points standings. With Logano taking the checkered flag at Bristol and sitting third in the standings entering Kansas, the formula put him at the top of the field when qualifying was washed away.

However, Logano did not arrive in Kansas anticipating the pole to come without turning a qualifying lap. The initial Cup Series schedule called for single-car qualifying this morning, giving each fielded driver the chance to establish a position around the 1.5-mile track. Instead, only four drivers Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Logano, and Alex Bowman managed to complete laps when practice briefly began and before inclement weather abruptly halted the run. Logano clocked a 172.601 mph lap during that short session, but the rest of the field never made it to the track for their turns before NASCAR called it off.

Yet, the situation does not make Logano’s position at the front of the field any less meaningful. Starting on the pole gives the No. 22 Ford the advantage of clean air and the chance to lead the field when the green flag falls Sunday, while Kyle Larson will join him on the front row. Larson finished second to Logano at Bristol and enters Kansas leading the championship standings by one point over Denny Hamlin, creating a front row that brings two of the championship contenders directly into the opening battle. Christopher Bell will start third, followed by Carson Hocevar and Ty Gibbs.

For Logano, the Kansas pole also adds another chapter to a season that has already produced multiple strong qualifying results. He earned the Busch Light Pole Award at World Wide Technology Raceway earlier this month, where he posted a 32.817-second lap at 137.124 mph to claim his 35th career Cup pole. That performance came through traditional qualifying, making Kansas a completely different route to the front of the field.

Even so, the result gives Logano another chance to capitalize on the heat he brought at Bristol. He will lead the field to green and into a 400-mile playoff race at a track where the championship picture can change quickly, and this time he will not have to chase the front from the start. The rain may have taken qualifying away from him, but it left Logano with exactly what every driver wants when the playoffs begin to tighten: the first spot on the starting grid.