MENCS: Martin Truex Jr. Earns Kansas Pole

Martin Truex Jr. will start on the pole at Kansas Speedway in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400. Truex, one of the heavy hitters gunning for this year’s championship, posted a 28.719, 188.029 mph. in the final round of knockout qualifying.

Truex enters Kansas holding his own with an already dominating season. The New Jersey native has six wins, 14 top five and 21 top 10 finishes through 31 races in 2017. The Kansas pole will be Truex’s third of the year.

Kevin Harvick will start second on the leaderboard in the No. 4 Jimmy John’s Ford. Harvick, entering the Hollywood Casino 400 as the defending race winner, posted a 28.772, 187.682 mph.

The California native comes into the 400-mile race with one victory, 10 top five and 18 top 10 finishes. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series veteran has an average start of 15.4 and an average finish of 10.0 at Kansas.

Ryan Blaney rounded out the top three in round three. Blaney posted a 28.782, 187.617 in the final round of knockout qualifying. The Wood Brothers Racing Ford sat ninth in round one and fourth in round two.

Jimmie Johnson, needing to find a good run on Sunday to earn a spot into the Round of 8, missed advancing into the final round by one spot in 13th. Other drivers Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch also need to have Sunday go their way. They will start fourth and eighth on the leaderboard.

40 drivers appeared on the weekend entry list and there were no DNQs.

Brett Winningham
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