KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Noah Gragson will start from the pole when the NASCAR Xfinity Series opens the penultimate round of its playoffs on Saturday night at Kansas Speedway.
Gragson, the driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports, earned the pole for the Kansas Lottery 300 due to NASCAR’s performance-based metric qualifying formula.
The NASCAR matrix factors in a driver’s lap speed ranking from the previous race, the last race finish for both driver and owner and the car’s current rank in the owner standings.
Lap speed is weighted at 15 percent, previous race finish at 25 percent for the driver and owner results and owner points position at 35 percent to calculate the final metric score.
Driver and owner playoff-eligible entries are ranked at the front of the field based on their metric scores from lowest to highest, with all non-playoff entries lined up behind the playoff cars in similar fashion.
Gragson earned the top spot with a metric score of 3.0, factoring in a runner-up finish at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, the fourth-fastest lap from that event and a fourth-place ranking in the series point standings.
Austin Cindric will flank Gragson on the front row, followed by Daniel Hemric, Ross Chastain and Brandon Jones, who inked a contract extension with Joe Gibbs Racing on Tuesday.
Chase Briscoe, Justin Allgaier, Ryan Sieg and Justin Haley will start sixth through ninth, respectively, among the remaining playoff contenders.
Alex Labbe starts best among the non-championship contenders in 10th.
To view the complete starting lineup and performance matrix breakdown, click here.
Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 is scheduled for a 7 p.m. ET start, with live coverage on NBCSN, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.