KANSAS CITY, Kan. – In the final race of the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season, Justin Allgaier captures the pole at Kansas Speedway.
Setting a time of 30.646 seconds at 176.206 mph, Allgaier earned his ninth career pole, the second of 2023.
“I was getting nervous that we could run as good of a lap as we could with how hot it was getting,” Allgaier shared. “Hats off to everyone at JR Motorsports, Hendrick and Chevrolet. I think we were better in race trim than we were in qualifying trim, so hopefully that’s a good omen for this afternoon.”
Sammy Smith (30.796 seconds) will start Saturday’s event to his outside as the highest qualifying rookie. Cole Custer (30.862 seconds), Brandon Jones (30.879 seconds) and Daniel Hemric (30.925 seconds) rounded out the top five starting positions.
Smith, Custer and Hemric will all be in the Playoffs by wins and points. Jones, who won the pole last year, is in a must-win situation to advance into the post-season.
Josh Berry (6th), John Hunter Nemechek (7th), Riley Herbst (8th), regular season championship leader Austin Hill (9th) and Brett Moffitt (10th) complete the top 10 qualifying grid. Herbst is currently the last car into the Playoffs, just a single point above Parker Kligerman (14th).