No joke: Daniel Hemric and David Ragan to start 1-2 at Kansas
Sunday’s playoff race at Kansas Speedway will have a front row made up of drivers outside of the top 20 in the points standings.
Daniel Hemric got the pole Saturday while David Ragan will start alongside him in second. Hemric is 25th in the standings while Ragan 31st and has the fewest points among full-time drivers earning points in the Cup Series.
Both drivers aren’t returning to their teams in 2020 either. Hemric isn’t being retained after his one and only season in the Cup Series at Richard Childress Racing and is getting replaced by Tyler Reddick. Ragan, a driver who has won two Cup Series races and has finished in the top 20 in the points standings just once, is retiring from driving at the end of the 2019 season.
They’ll also likely both fall back through the pack in the first stage of Sunday’s race. It’s a safe bet that both drivers’ cars were built more for raw speed than handling. And with teams unable to make adjustments between qualifying and the race, expect better handling cars to sweep past them in the first part of the race.
Kevin Harvick didn’t make a qualifying attempt and will start last on Sunday. His car didn’t get through inspection after multiple attempts. Talladega winner Ryan Blaney starts third alongside teammate Brad Keselowski in fourth. Kyle Larson, the other driver clinched into the third round in addition to Blaney, will start fifth.
The race is set to go green just after 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday. It’s the final race of the second round of the playoffs as the playoff field will get cut from 12 to eight after the race.
Points standings
1. Kyle Larson [won at Dover]
2. Ryan Blaney [won at Talladega]
3. Denny Hamlin, 3,114 points
4. Martin Truex Jr., 3,106
5. Kyle Busch, 3,099
6. Kevin Harvick, 3,094
7. Brad Keselowski, 3,078
8. Joey Logano, 3,076
9. Alex Bowman, 3,058
10. Chase Elliott, 3,054
11. Clint Bowyer, 3,052
12. William Byron, 3,049
Starting lineup
1. Daniel Hemric
2. David Ragan
3. Ryan Blaney
4. Brad Keselowski
5. Kyle Larson
6. Michael McDowell
7. Ryan Newman
8. Daniel Suarez
9. Austin Dillon
10. Bubba Wallace
11. Martin Truex Jr.
12. Jimmie Johnson
13. Aric Almirola
14. Chase Elliott
15. Kurt Busch
16. Alex Bowman
17. Matt Tifft
18. Kyle Busch
19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
20. Erik Jones
21. Clint Bowyer
22. Paul Menard
23. Denny Hamlin
24. Ty Dillon
25. William Byron
26. Chris Buescher
27. Matt DiBenedetto
28. Ryan Preece
29. Joey Logano
30. Landon Cassill
31. Corey LaJoie
32. Parker Kligerman
33. Ross Chastain
34. Reed Sorenson
35. Garrett Smithley
36. JJ Yeley
37. Josh Bilicki
38. Timmy Hill
39. Joey Gase
40. Kevin Harvick