NASCAR Kansas 2016 qualifying results: Matt Kenseth fastest, Toyota sweeps top 4 positions

Picking up where it left off in the spring when NASCAR last visited Kansas Speedway in May, Toyota swept qualifying Friday with its drivers taking the top-four positions for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400.

Matt Kenseth (192.089 mph) led the Toyota route with Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch (192.082 mph) and Carl Edwards (191.015 mph) second and third, respectively. Furniture Row Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., whose team shares a close technical alliance with JGR, qualified fourth.

It was Kenseth’s first pole of the season and 18th of his career. He is a two-time winner at the 1.5-mile Kansas track.

“It’s great having such talented teammates and other crew chiefs in the stable and everything,” Kenseth said. “It also stinks at times because it’s really, really hard to beat them.”

Truex led 172 of 267 laps at Kansas in May, but his bid for victory ended when a bracket behind the right-front wheel broke during a late pit stop causing the tire to shake. Busch would lead the final 37 laps to score his third victory of the season.

“There were a couple of guys that were fast in May that I’m sure we’ll have to contend with this time around,” Busch said. “It’s just a testament to Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota to be able to do what we’ve done and have three of them Joe Gibbs in the front three spots, and then Martin Truex there in fourth, that was really good.”

Alex Bowman in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet qualified fifth, the highest among the non-Toyotas. Two-time defending race winner Joey Logano starts his Team Penske Ford sixth. Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Newman and AJ Allmendinger completed the top 10.

Chase Elliott (qualified 13th), Kurt Busch (15th) and Jimmie Johnson (21st) were the only drivers of the 12 in the Chase for the Sprint Cup failing to advance to the third and final qualifying round.

Johnson won the opening event of the three-race quarterfinal playoff round last week at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He is guaranteed to transfer to the semifinal round regardless of what happens Sunday or Oct. 23 at Talladega Superspeedway.

“I don’t want to fall back on the fact we are locked in,” Johnson said. “We need to qualify toward the front. ... We need to get qualifying under control. I need to get better at it.

“We are not taking it lightly that we qualified 21st, but I’m not too concerned about it. I am better at racing, than I am at running a single lap.”

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