Obscure drivers out front

Qualifying yields surprising result

Daniel Hemric wasn’t exactly fired. David Ragan isn’t quite yet retired.

Yet the two off-the-radar drivers bested 12 playoff drivers and the rest of the Cup Series field to land on the front row for Sunday’s NASCAR race at Kansas Speedway. Hemric turned a fast lap of 178.047 mph to edge Ragan, who was followed by three drivers still in the championship hunt.

“I wasn’t too, too pumped up about the lap I ran, but as every car went by I felt like our odds increased,” said Hemric, who was told last month that Richard Childress Racing would not be picking up his option for 2020. “It’s just the pole award but it’s a big moment for this race team.”

Childress, who already has picked Tyler Reddick to take over the No. 8 Chevrolet, nevertheless was there to give Hemric a hug when the final car finished qualifying Saturday.

It was the first career Cup Series pole for Hemric, though he sat on the pole for the Xfinity race at Kansas last season. And it gives him a big boost of confidence not only for the race but for his hopes of landing another ride in NASCAR’s premier series for next season.

“My confidence hasn’t really wavered one way or another,” Hemric said. “But in aligning and positioning yourself for the future, this doesn’t hurt any.”

Ragan announced in August he was stepping away from Front Row Motorsports as a full-time driver.

Xfinity Series

Brandon Jones raced to his first career Xfinity victory Saturday at Kansas Speedway after a lapped car wrecked what was shaping up to be an entertaining duel between playoff contenders Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell.

It wasn’t the end of the drama, either.

Fellow playoff contenders Cole Custer and Tyler Reddick got into a pit-road melee after getting out of their cars. Custer was upset at the way Reddick raced him in the closing laps of the first race in the playoff round of eight.

Reddick finished second and Briscoe rallied to finish third. Custer was 11th and Bell 12th.