Here's the thing about weather in the NASCAR Cup Series Chase presented by Mobil 1: it loves to mix things up. Rain has now played havoc with qualifying for three of the first four races of the postseason, washing out both practice and time trials for Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.
Thankfully, Joey Logano does not mind at all. The three-time series champion 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.
"I'll take rain," Logano said. He enters the Kansas round third in the Chase standings, sitting 16 points behind leader Kyle Larson. Larson will start Sunday's race right beside Logano on the front row.
Logano was actually first out during a scheduled practice session that the rain halted almost before it began. "In a perfect world, we would have gotten to practice, and it rained out qualifying," Logano noted. "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."
"Starting up front is always good," Logano added regarding his grid position. "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."
Behind the front row, Chase drivers completely dominate the sharp end of the grid, occupying the first nine positions. Christopher Bell and Carson Hocevar line up third and fourth, respectively, followed by Ty Gibbs in fifth. Denny Hamlin—who trails Larson by just one point—starts sixth, with Bubba Wallace, William Byron, and Ryan Preece filling out the spots right behind him. In fact, tenth-place starter Josh Berry stands alone as the only non-Chase driver inside the top 10.
Further back, the rest of the Chase contenders will take the green flag from mixed territory: Austin Cindric starts 11th, Chris Buescher 12th, Daniel Suárez 14th, Tyler Reddick 15th, Chase Elliott 18th, Chase Briscoe 23rd, and Ryan Blaney down in 25th. That qualifying washout is a particularly bitter pill for Blaney, who finds himself starting deep in the field for the second consecutive week after wrecking out of the Bristol race while battling for second place with Hocevar.
