Truex takes pole for elimination race at Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Martin Truex Jr. continued his winning ways at Kansas Speedway on Friday by capturing the pole for this weekend’s NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series playoff elimination race.

Truex was already assured of advancing to the round of eight after his win at Charlotte, but he now heads into Sunday’s race looking for his fourth straight victory on a 1 1/2-mile track.

He also earned the crucial first pit stall for next week’s race at Martinsville.

Truex was followed by playoff contenders Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney, Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin. Kyle Busch was eighth, Jamie McMurray was ninth and Brad Keselowski was 11th after winning last week at Talladega to punch his ticket to the next round.

Jimmie Johnson will start 13th, followed by Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was the only driver who failed to advance from the first round and qualified 25th.

Truex has dominated at Kansas Speedway for years, only for bad luck to conspire against him. But he broke through with a victory in May, and that’s kicked off a dominant stretch at intermediate tracks that has included a run of three straight wins at mile-and-a-half ovals.

“We race one week at a time, try to do the best job we can, but we knew this was a big one tonight,’’ said Truex. “Just proud of everybody for making the right adjustments, the right calls.’’