Chase Briscoe nabs fourth pole of NASCAR Cup season at Michigan
BROOKLYN, Mich. — For the third straight week, Chase Briscoe will lead the NASCAR Cup Series field to the green flag Sunday in the FireKeepers Casino 400.
Briscoe paced the 2-mile Michigan International Speedway in 36.826 seconds, averaging 195.514 MPH in qualifying Saturday. It was fast enough for him to earn his third straight Cup Series pole and field-best fourth of the 2025.
“I would say this is definitely the least confident I’ve been going into the last three weeks,” Briscoe said to The Racing Experts. “The last two weeks, at least we went out super late I think we’re the third or fourth last car out, which is typically an advantage.
“With us all running wide open, it’s not as big an advantage. Truthfully, I knew the Toyotas were going to be really good. I knew the No. 19 car has been good, but I didn’t anticipate getting the pole, especially when we all started running wide open.”
Briscoe has never won from the pole but did fourth in the Daytona 500 and third in the Coca-Cola 600.
In total, Briscoe has won six poles in his five Cup seasons.
Kyle Busch tied his best start of the season — second for the second time — to share the front row with Briscoe. Busch ran a lap of 36.853 seconds (195.371 MPH average).
Busch enters MIS with a 71-race winless streak, the longest of his career.
“We got a good lap there in qualifying to get a good starting spot,” Busch said to The Racing Experts. “Still a lot of work to do to on figuring out where we can improve from race trim. Race trim’s not very fast.”
Denny Hamlin, who is on baby watch with fiancée Jordan Fish, qualified third. Hendrick Motorsports drivers William Byron and Kyle Larson rounded out the Top-5 qualifiers.
Tyler Reddick, the 2024 Michigan winner, will start 12th.
The FireKeepers Casino 400 is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 8.
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Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.