Brandon Jones spoiled the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff field as he scored the pole ahead of Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway.
Jones, who is set to leave JR Motorsports at season’s end for Joe Gibbs Racing, wheeled his No. 9 Chevrolet to a fastest speed of 175.553 mph.
He out-paced Chandler Smith by 0.046 seconds. Cole Custer, who scored the regular season championship last week at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, starts third for Stewart-Haas Racing.
Rookie phenom Connor Zilisch qualified fourth ahead of teammate Sam Mayer in fifth.
Aric Almirola starts sixth for Joe Gibbs Racing, followed by four Chevrolets in Jesse Love (seventh), Parker Kligerman (eighth), Justin Allgaier (ninth) and Austin Hill (10th).
Other playoff drivers outside the top 10 include Sammy Smith (13th), A.J. Allemendinger (14th), Sheldon Creed (15th), Riley Herbst (16th) and Shane van Gisbergen (22nd).
Allgaier enters the playoffs as the No. 1 seed, 27 points above the cutline.