NASCAR at Kansas 2016 Qualifying Results: Race Order, Final Times and Reaction

Two races remain in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chase's Round of 12, and on Friday, the field was set for the first of those, which is Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 from Kansas Speedway. 

Matt Kenseth took the pole as he will lead a field that looks like this:

Rank	Driver	Time
1	Matt Kenseth*	28.112
2	Kyle Busch*	28.113
3	Carl Edwards*	28.270
4	Martin Truex Jr.*	28.304
5	Alex Bowman	28.374
6	Joey Logano*	28.388
7	Denny Hamlin*	28.393
8	Brad Keselowski*	28.408
9	Ryan Newman	28.432
10	AJ Allmendinger	28.445
11	Kevin Harvick*	28.484
12	Auston Dillon*	28.486
2nd Cut
13	Chase Elliott*	28.428
14	Tony Stewart	28.430
15	Kurt Busch*	28.455
16	Paul Menard	28.457
17	Ryan Blaney	28.490
18	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	28.513
19	Danica Patrick	28.535
20	Kasey Kahne	28.541
21	Jimmie Johnson*	28.575
22	Greg Biffle	28.582
23	Jamie McMurray	28.709
24	Kyle Larson	29.027
1st Cut
25	Trevor Bayne	28.666
26	Regan Smith	28.774
27	Matt DiBenedetto	28.788
28	David Ragan	28.798
29	Casey Mears	28.809
30	Chris Buescher	28.826
31	Clint Bowyer	28.839
32	Brian Scott	28.905
33	Michael McDowell	28.967
34	Landon Cassill	29.181
35	Aric Almirola	29.217
36	Cole Whitt	29.482
37	Michael Annett	29.687
38	Joey Gase	29.907
39	Reed Sorenson	29.933
40	Josh Wise	30.025

The win was Kenseth's 18th career pole in the Sprint Cup Series, via the NBC Sports telecast, as he sits second in the Chase standings. However he was just able to hold on to the top spot as he edged Kyle Busch by one one-thousandth of a second. 

With the Chase field being cut from 12 to eight after the Alabama 500 from Talladega on on Oct. 23, only Jimmie Johnson is safe, as his win at Martinsville clinched his spot in the next round. So his 21st standing in qualifying isn't going to hurt his postseason chances in any way.

Entering the weekend, Denny Hamlin held the eighth and final spot of the Chase standings with 3,012 points, but he is 16 points behind seventh-place Martin Truex Jr., and his lead is not close to safe. 

Both Austin Dillon and Chase Elliott are just three points behind Hamlin, while Joey Logano is six points back and Kevin Harvick is eight points adrift. 

Elliott is the only one of those four drivers who will start outside of the top 12, as he was the final cut in the second round and will start in 13th.

Hamlin will start in seventh as he tries to keep the eighth spot, while Logano is in sixth, Harvick in 11th and Dillon in 12th.

Qualifying on Friday was expected to be a fast-and-furious affair as drivers were hitting speeds around 205 mph during an overcast practice session earlier that day. But the later it got in the day, the sun came out and the track heated up, thus slowing drivers down.

Instead of speeds over 200 mph, the fastest speed was set at 192 mph during qualifying. 

A good qualifying round won't necessarily translate into success on race day, but it does take a little bit of pressure off the drivers near the cut line. 

The better the starting position, the less of the field one would have to move up through while getting better positions on pit road. When it comes down to such fine margins come cut time, it can make a world of difference for drivers trying to keep their seasons alive. 

Stats courtesy of NASCAR.com.