Kasey Kahne, one of NASCAR's most underrated drivers when it comes to qualifying, just did it again: The Hendrick Motorsports driver won the pole position for Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.
The No. 1 qualifying spot was the fourth for Kahne this season and the 26th of his career. Since 2006, Kahne now has 20 poles – more than any other driver during that time.
Mark Martin (starting second) looked to have the time to beat until Kahne came along and bumped the veteran driver from the top spot with an average speed of 191.360 mph.
Kahne's speed was a track record, but all 46 drivers to make an attempt broke the track record on the newly repaved surface.
Kansas native Clint Bowyer will start third, followed by Kyle Busch and Aric Almirola. Points leader Brad Keselowski qualified 25th, while second-place Jimmie Johnson (seventh) and third-place Denny Hamlin (eighth) will start side-by-side.
Cole Whitt, David Stremme and Josh Wise failed to qualify for the race.
Here's the starting lineup for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway (Chase drivers in bold):
- Kasey Kahne
- Mark Martin
- Clint Bowyer
- Kyle Busch
- Aric Almirola
- Ryan Newman
- Jimmie Johnson
- Joey Logano
- Denny Hamlin
- Kevin Harvick
- Greg Biffle
- Matt Kenseth
- AJ Allmendinger
- Paul Menard
- Sam Hornish Jr.
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Carl Edwards
- Marcos Ambrose
- Jeff Gordon
- Jeff Burton
- Jamie McMurray
- Bobby Labonte
- Michael McDowell
- Juan Pablo Montoya
- Brad Keselowski
- Landon Cassill
- JJ Yeley
- Casey Mears
- Kurt Busch
- Mike Bliss
- Travis Kvapil
- Trevor Bayne
- Tony Stewart
- Reed Sorenson
- Scott Speed
- Joe Nemechek
- David Ragan
- David Gilliland
- Regan Smith
- Danica Patrick
- Dave Blaney
- Timmy Hill
- Kelly Bires
This story originally appeared at SB Nation.