Kasey Kahne has smashed the Kansas Speedway qualifying record, taking pole for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400, the sixth race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
The new smooth, fresh asphalt at the 1.5-mile intermediate track proved fast, with the old track record broken by most of the Sprint Cup drivers.
Kahne toured the speedway in 28.219 seconds (191.360 mph) to edge second-place qualifier Mark Martin (191.238 mph) by 0.018s.
The Coors Light Pole Award was Kahne’s fourth of the season, the 26th of his career and his third at Kansas.
Clint Bowyer will start third ahead of Kyle Busch and Aric Almirola.
Chase contenders Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin will start 25th, seventh and ninth respectively.
Australian Marcos Ambrose will start 18th.
Cole Whitt, David Stremme and Josh Wise failed to qualify for the 43-car field. Danica Patrick posted the 41st-fastest qualifying time of the 46 drivers but will start from the back of the field after an engine change on Friday.
Qualifying, Kansas
| POS | CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | SPEED | TIME | BEHIND |
| 1 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | Farmers Insurance | 191.360 | 28.219 | Leader |
| 2 | 55 | Mark Martin | Toyota | Aaron’s Dream Machine | 191.238 | 28.237 | -0.018 |
| 3 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 5-Hour Energy Benefiting Avon Foundation for Women | 191.130 | 28.253 | -0.034 |
| 4 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | M&M’s Halloween | 191.096 | 28.258 | -0.039 |
| 5 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | Farmland | 190.988 | 28.274 | -0.055 |
| 6 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | Code 3 Associates | 190.853 | 28.294 | -0.075 |
| 7 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe’s | 190.840 | 28.296 | -0.077 |
| 8 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | Dollar General | 190.813 | 28.300 | -0.081 |
| 9 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Freight | 190.718 | 28.314 | -0.095 |
| 10 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Budweiser | 190.409 | 28.360 | -0.141 |
| 11 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M / Sherwin Williams | 190.389 | 28.363 | -0.144 |
| 12 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Zest | 190.376 | 28.365 | -0.146 |
| 13 | 51 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | Phoenix Construction | 190.154 | 28.398 | -0.179 |
| 14 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Menards / CertainTeed | 190.134 | 28.401 | -0.182 |
| 15 | 22 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | Shell / Pennzoil | 190.094 | 28.407 | -0.188 |
| 16 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 189.940 | 28.430 | -0.211 |
| 17 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Fastenal | 189.913 | 28.434 | -0.215 |
| 18 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Black & Decker | 189.827 | 28.447 | -0.228 |
| 19 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | DuPont | 189.520 | 28.493 | -0.274 |
| 20 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Caterpillar | 189.367 | 28.516 | -0.297 |
| 21 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | Kingsford | 189.268 | 28.531 | -0.312 |
| 22 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops / Arctic Cat | 189.268 | 28.531 | -0.312 |
| 23 | 98 | Michael McDowell | Ford | K-Love / Curb Records | 189.261 | 28.532 | -0.313 |
| 24 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Taylor Swift / Target | 188.851 | 28.594 | -0.375 |
| 25 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Miller Lite | 188.772 | 28.606 | -0.387 |
| 26 | 83 | Landon Cassill | Toyota | Burger King / Dr Pepper | 188.646 | 28.625 | -0.406 |
| 27 | 37 | J.J. Yeley | Chevrolet | MaxQworkforce | 188.633 | 28.627 | -0.408 |
| 28 | 13 | Casey Mears | Ford | GEICO | 188.600 | 28.632 | -0.413 |
| 29 | 78 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | Furniture Row / Farm American | 188.370 | 28.667 | -0.448 |
| 30 | 119 | Mike Bliss | Toyota | Plinker Tactical / Crowne Plaza | 188.173 | 28.697 | -0.478 |
| 31 | 93 | Travis Kvapil | Toyota | Burger King / Dr Pepper | 188.147 | 28.701 | -0.482 |
| 32 | 21 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center | 188.055 | 28.715 | -0.496 |
| 33 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Office Depot / Mobil 1 | 187.859 | 28.745 | -0.526 |
| 34 | 191 | Reed Sorenson | Toyota | Plinker Tactical / Crowne Plaza | 187.761 | 28.760 | -0.541 |
| 35 | 195 | Scott Speed | Ford | B&D Electrical | 187.748 | 28.762 | -0.543 |
| 36 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves | 187.578 | 28.788 | -0.569 |
| 37 | 34 | David Ragan | Ford | Client One Securities, LLC | 187.474 | 28.804 | -0.585 |
| 38 | 179 | Kelly Bires | Ford | Bestway Disposal / Re-Load.biz | 187.285 | 28.833 | -0.614 |
| 39 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | Long John Silver’s | 187.234 | 28.841 | -0.622 |
| 40 | 88 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | National Guard / Diet Mountain Dew | 187.182 | 28.849 | -0.630 |
| 41 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | GoDaddy.com | 186.896 | 28.893 | -0.674 |
| 42 | 33 | Cole Whitt | Chevrolet | Moon Shine Attire | 186.877 | 28.896 | -0.677 |
| 43 | 30 | David Stremme | Toyota | Inception Motorsports | 186.027 | 29.028 | -0.809 |
| 44 | 36 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | TBR / TMone | 183.773 | 29.384 | -1.165 |
| 45 | 32 | Timmy Hill | Ford | Southern Pride Trucking / U.S. Chrome | 183.624 | 29.408 | -1.189 |
| 46 | 26 | Josh Wise* | Ford | MDS Transport | 182.500 | 29.589 | -1.370 |
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